BV  4010  .J65 

Johnson,  Herrick,  1832-1912 

The  ideal  ministry 


The     Ideal     Ministry 


The    Ideal    Ministry 


HERRICK   JOHNSON,  D.D. 

Professor  of  Homiktics  and  Pastoral  Theol- 
ogy y  Auburn  Theological  Seminary ,  18^4-80  ; 
McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  i88CHigo6 


New  York         Chicago         Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London       and       Edinburgh 


Copyright,   1908,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  80  Wabash  Avenue 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      lOO    Princes    Street 


To  the  memory  of  my  beloved  wife^  who 
walked  with  7ne  through  all  the  years  of 
my  ministry^  sharing  with  me  its  joys  and 
sorrowsy  its  trials  and  trinviphs ;  whose 
songs  of  trust  have  winged  the  feet  of  the 
hoicrs,  and  whose  '*  voice  in  the  twilight^^ 
has  made  many  a  piece  of  my  patch- 
work seem  worth  while y  this  ^' Ideal 
Ministry  ^^    is    most    lovingly    dedicated. 

H.  J. 


Foreword 

IDEALS  are  inspirations,  incentives  to  effort,  calls 
to  come  up  higher.  They  fill  us  with  a  blessed 
discontent  of  the  past,  and  stir  us  with  an  eager 
longing  to  do  better  things.  They  make  a  dead  level 
impossible  in  any  calling.  Of  all  men,  the  man  in  the 
ministry  is  the  one  who  should  have  ideals.  The  ideal 
" consecration,"  the  ideal  "life,"  the  ideal  "steward- 
ship," the  ideal  "Church,"  the  ideal  "kingdom," — he 
can  tolerate  nothing  less  than  these.  They  are  set 
before  him  by  his  Lord. 

For  the  attainment  of  these  God-appointed  ideals, 
one  of  the  God-appointed  means,  and  the  chief,  is  the 
ministry  of  the  Word  of  God  by  the  man  of  God. 
And  in  the  prosecution  of  this  ministry,  the  ideals  of 
it  we  hang  up  in  our  sky,  if  worthy,  though  they  may 
shame  our  past,  will  nevertheless  prove  incentives  to 
higher  things.  So  that  idealizing  in  the  ministry  is 
not  theorizing,  nor  ballooning,  nor  getting  lost  in  the 
clouds.  It  is  lifting  a  standard.  In  the  reverent  use 
of  apostolic  words,  it  is  "  forgetting  the  things  which 
are  behind,  and  stretching  forward  to  the  things  w^hich 
are  before,  and  pressing  on  towards  the  goal  unto  the 
prize  "  of  an  ideal  ministry  in  Christ  Jesus. 

That  this  book  may  be  helpful  to  such  a  ministry 
and  stimulative  to  homiletic  effectiveness,  is  the  hope 
and  prayer  of  the  author. 

7 


Contents 


PART  ONE 
THE   IDEAL   MINISTRY 

I.  Its  Permanent  Function  :      Preaching 

II.  Its  Supreme  Aim  :     Perfect  Manhood  in  Christ 

Jesus  ....... 

III.  Its  Ruling  Spirit  :     Love 

IV.  Its  Subject- Matter  :     The  Word  of  God 

V.  Its  Preeminent  Business  :      Preaching  Christ 

VI.  Its  Central  Theme  :      Christ  Crucified  . 

VII.  Its  Eternal  Sanctions  :      Everlasting  Life  and 

Death         ...... 

VIII.  Its  Cooperating  Agent  :     The   Holy  Spirit 


1 1 

27 

35 
43 
53 
65 

81 
89 


PART  TWO 
RELATED    IDEALS 

IX.  The  "  Call  '*  to  the  Ministry 

X.  The  Student  in  the  Ministry 

XI.  The  Minister's  Study 

XII.  The  Law  of  Adaptation 

XIII.  Preaching  Old  Doctrines  in  New  Times 

XIV.  The  Method  of  Answering  Questions 

XV.  Methods     of     Preaching 

XVI.  Kinds  of  Discussion 

XVII.  Sermon  Plans  Illustrative  of  Different  Kinds 

OF  Discussion       ...... 

9 


lOI 

119 

135 
157 

175 
185 
199 
241 

257 


10 


Contents 

PART   THREE 
THE   SERMON 


xvm. 

Its  Ideal  Definition         .          .          .          .          . 

273 

XIX. 

Its  Ideal  **  Constants  "            ... 

285 

XX. 

Its  Ideal  **  Immediates  "            .           .          .          . 

309 

XXI. 

Its  Ideal  **  Cardinals  "             ... 

331 

XXII. 

Its  Ideal  Topics      ..... 

347 

xxin. 

Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  . 

375 

XXIV. 

Its  Ideal  Delivery            .... 

407 

XXV. 

The  Ideal  Sermon   ..... 

.     441 

XXVI.  The  Crucial  Question  in  Applied  Theology  : 
Why  are  not  More  Souls  Brought  to  Christ 
BY  THE  Sermon?  .....      463 

Index     ........     479 


PART  ONE 

THE  IDEAL  MINISTRY 


THE  IDEAL  MINISTRY— ITS  PERMANENT 
FUNCTION  :  PREACHING 


SYLLABUS 

Introductory. — Certain  great  ideas  have  given  the  gospel  ministry 
its  peculiar  glory.  The  great  winners  and  builders  of  souls  have 
been  dominated  by  these  ideas.  One  of  these  determining  ideas  is 
preaching  as  the  permanent  function  of  the  ministry. 

1.  The  dictum  of  a  certain  school  of  art  as  to  whether  it  shall 

' '  preach. ' ' 

2.  "What  Christ  intended  for  His  Gospel. 

(a)     He  meant  it  should  be  preached. 
(&)     He  meant  the  living  preacher. 

3.  "What  preaching  really  is. 

4.  Other  agencies  help  tell  the  story,  but  preaching  is  the  norm  in 

gospel  evangelization. 

5.  Some  signs  that  seem  to  forecast  the  decadence  of  preaching. 

6.  Over  against   these   is   the   living  Christ  saying  to  the  living 

Church,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature." 

7.  From  this  high  premise  these  things  follow  : 

(a)  "When  preaching  is  out  of  date,  Christianity  will  be 
out  of  date ;  for  the  word  preached  and  the  living 
Christ  are  tied  together  for  all  time. 

(&)  No  modern  device  of  human  wisdom,  no  social  settle- 
ment or  sociological  movement  can  supplant  the 
preaching  of  the  "Word. 

(c)  By  this  sign  we  conquer.  The  order  is  the  King's, 
and  is  backed  by  all  of  heaven's  authority  and 
power. 

id)  If  the  sermon  has  become  a  "back  number,"  the 
fact  of  preaching  is  not  what's  the  matter,  but  the 
kind  of  preaching.  The  divine  command  is,  "Go 
ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach."  Let  the  answer 
be,  in  Rome  or  Athens,  in  town  or  country,  in  the 
seats  of  high  culture  or  in  the  heart  of  pagan  con- 
tinents, "'As  much  as  in  me  is,'  always  and 
everywhere,  I  am  ready  to  preach." 


THE  IDEAL  MINISTKY— ITS  PERMANENT  FUNC- 
TION :     PREACHING 

IN  every  calling  there  must  be  belief  in  its  great 
value  before  there  can  be  intense  ardour  in  its 
prosecution.  It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  mind  to 
be  stirred  deeply  by  what  it  deems  a  trifle.  Patriots 
are  not  born  of  low  ideals.  The  things  for  which  a 
man  is  willing  to  die  are  great  things  to  him.  The 
poet  thinks  no  other  art  like  his  ;  he  calls  it  divine. 
So,  too,  the  painter  and  the  sculptor ;  they  have 
exalted  conceptions  of  their  work.  Hence  they  come 
to  their  canvas  or  marble  all  aglow,  with  an  enthusi- 
asm that  burns  within  them.  And  the  canvas  and  the 
marble  catch  their  spirit,  and  glow  and  breathe  and 
speak  under  their  touch.  If  an  artist  thinks  meanly  of 
his  art,  it  will  be  mean  art  that  is  born  in  his  studio. 
So,  a  conception  of  the  gospel  ministry  as  merely  a 
respectable  means  of  livelihood — a  kind  of  bread  and 
butter  conception — will  beget  a  tame  ministry.  If  it 
is  thought  to  be  godlike,  the  godlike  will  appear  in  the 
heavenly  doing. 

It  behooves  us,  therefore,  at  the  very  outset  of  our 
discussion,  to  inquire  what  those  vital  features  of  the 
gospel  ministry  are  that  set  it  apart  from  every  other 
ministry,  and  that  stamp  it  as  superior  to  every  other 
ministry.  And  if  we  find  there  are  such  features, 
then  to  grasp  these  several  ideas,  to  weigh  them,  and 

13 


14  The  Ideal  Ministry 

to  come  under  the  spell  of  their  charm  and  power  so 
that  they  shall  cease  to  be  mere  intellectual  beliefs, 
and  become  vitalized  spiritual  forces,  is  to  be  on  the 
sure  road  to  an  ideal  gospel  ministry. 

What,  then,  are  those  ideas,  unique  and  matchless, 
transcendent  in  their  worth  and  of  eternal  conse- 
quence, that  give  the  gospel  ministry  its  peculiar 
glory  and  sanctity  ?    They  are : 

Its  permanent  function  ;  its  supreme  aim ;  its  ruling 
spirit ;  its  subject  matter  ;  its  preeminent  business ;  its 
central  theme ;  its  eternal  sanctions ;  and  its  cooperat- 
ing agent. 

The  ambassadors  for  Christ  who  have  hitherto  come 
nearest  to  an  ideal  gospel  ministry  have  been  stirred 
the  most  mightily  by  these  ideas.  This  has  been  the 
characteristic  mark  of  their  stewardship.  They  have 
widely  differed  in  many  respects — physically,  intellec- 
tually, temperamentally,  emotionally.  The  giants  in 
Israel  that  have  done  great  things  for  God — that  have 
had  wide  hearing  and  multiplied  victories — have  not 
all  been  intellectual  giants.  Some  have  been  distin- 
guished for  wide  scholarly  research  ;  some  have  had  a 
soaring  imagination ;  some  have  been  logic  on  fire ; 
some  have  been  signally  endowed  with  sanctified  com- 
mon sense.  What  strong  contrasts  between  Paul  and 
Peter,  Augustine  and  Chrysostom,  Calvin  and  Me- 
lanchthon,  John  Knox  and  John  Bunyan,  Spurgeon 
and  Beecher,  Brooks  and  Moody,  Finney  and  White- 
field,  Jonathan  Edwards  and  Gypsy  Smith  !  But  these 
all,  and  a  multitude  more  of  winners  and  builders  of 
souls,  were  alike  in  this — they  intensely  believed  in, 
and  were  supremely  dominated  by,  the  several  ideas 
that  are  here  named  as  stamping  and  distinguishing 


Its  Permanent  Function  15 

the  ideal  gospel  ministry.  Let  us  consider  them  in  the 
order  named  : 

The  Ideal  Ministry — Its  Permanent  Function : 
Preaching. 

1.  "  Thou  shalt  not  preach"  is  the  first  and  great 
commandment  of  that  school  of  art  which  believes  in 
"art  for  art's  sake."  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  "  is  the  last  command  of  Him  who  came  to 
seek  and  save  that  which  is  lost.  The  dictum  of  the 
art  school  is  open  to  challenge.  The  order  of  the 
King  admits  of  no  debate.  And  it  makes  preaching 
the  permanent  function  of  the  gospel  ministry. 

If  the  exclusive  business  of  art  is  to  "  hold  the 
mirror  up  to  nature,"  if  art  is  to  "  exhibit  alike  the 
vices  and  virtues  of  the  age,"  "  but  must  not  take 
sides  " ;  if  "  the  moment  a  moral  or  an  immoral  inten- 
tion obtrudes  itself,  that  moment  the  artist  begins  to 
fall  from  grace  as  an  artist  "  ;  and  if  in  art  "  all  things 
are  permissible  in  their  place  and  proportion,"  ^  then 
art,  of  course,  must  not  and  cannot  preach.  It  is 
merely  imagination's  drag-net  for  the  good  and  the 
bad,  the  clean  and  the  filthy,  the  pure  and  the  vile,  the 
angelic  and  the  devilish.  All  the  weird  witchery  of 
evil  and  subtle  seduction  of  lust  that  appears  in 
nature  and  society  may  be  put  upon  canvas,  provided 
the  canvas  is  true  to  its  mission  as  "  a  mirror,"  and 
provided  the  vicious  and  the  virtuous  are  given  their 
due  proportion. 

But  that  this  would  play  havoc  with  morals,  we  all 
know.  There  is  a  great  deal  in  nature  and  life  that 
should  not  be  seen  in  a  mirror.     Why  should  not  art 

*  John   BurroTigbs,    "  TUou  Shalt  Not  Preach,"  ^^^aiific  Monthly^ 
August,  1899. 


i6  The  Ideal  Ministry 

preach,  if  it  will  ?  It  has  glorified,  to  many  a  soul, 
a  truth  of  God.  But  let  it  beware  how  it  preaches, 
lest  it  change  the  truth  of  God  into  a  lie.  If,  as  the 
author  already  quoted  says,  "  Dante  makes  hell  fas- 
cinating by  his  treatment,"  then  Dante  not  only 
preaches,  but  puts  a  false  tone  in  his  colouring  ;  for  he 
and  the  divine  Artist  do  not  agree.  Christ  makes  hell 
dreadful  and  damning  by  His  treatment. 

2.  Whether,  however,  this  dictum  of  art,  "Thou 
shalt  not  preach,"  is  accepted  or  rejected,  there  can  be 
no  shadow  of  doubt  as  to  what  Christ  intended  for 
His  Gospel,  {a)  He  meant  it  should  he  preached.  He 
commanded  its  preaching.  He  bade  His  disciples  to 
"  go  into  all  the  world  and  preach."  "  Make  disciples 
of  all  nations  "  is  His  final  and  perpetual  charge.  By 
"  the  foolishness  of  preaching "  salvation  coraeth. 
"  Preach  the  word  "  is  the  apostolic  injunction.  Along 
this  road  the  Church  has  pushed  to  her  world-wide 
conquests.  She  has  gone  everywhere,  preaching  the 
Gospel.  And  through  all  the  ages  since  Christ  first 
called  men  to  Christian  ambassadorship  the  preaching 
of  the  cross  has  been  to  "  them  that  are  being  saved," 
"  the  power  of  God." 

As  it  was  in  the  beginning,  it  is  now,  and  ever  shall 
be.  The  Founder  of  Christianity  made  no  mistake 
when  He  staked  its  triumphal  progress  down  through 
time  and  its  victorious  consummation  at  "  the  end  of 
the  world  "  on  "  the  foolishness  of  preaching."  He 
chose  the  agency  in  full  view  of  the  puissant  forces 
and  changed  conditions  of  these  later  centuries. 

(b)  And  He  meant  the  living  preacher.  "  Go  ye 
into  all  the  world."  He  knew,  as  no  one  else  knew, 
the  might  of  truth  in  personality.    The  consummate 


Its  Permanent  Function  17 

flower  and  power  of  revelation  was  He  Himself — God^ 
manifest  in  the  flesh.  Prophecy  !  teaching  !  vision  ! 
type  !  earlier  theophanies  ! — whai  were  these  compared 
with  Him  !  How  they  faded  away  in  the  presence  of 
the  glory  and  power  of  truth  embodied  in  His  divine 
person ;  and  that  person  "  in  the  flesh,"  face  to  face 
with  men,  sympathetic  to  their  need,  sorrowing  with 
them,  touched  with  the  feeling  of  their  infirmities,  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  upon  Him,  anointed  to  preach  the 
Gospel !  Here  is  the  perpetual  warrant  for  God's 
great  ordinance  of  gospel  proclamation. 

3.  To  he  like  Christ,  to  stand  in  His  stead  and 
sjyeah  in  His  hehalf  sensible  of  a  divine  commission, 
jpersuaded  that  we  are  His  ambassadors,  not  hy  infal- 
lible sacerdotal  selection,  not  hy  the  marlcet  law  of  de- 
mand and  supply,  hut  hy  immediate,  internal,  and  ef- 
fectual call  of  God  /  and  thus  persuaded,  to  tahe  the 

truths  of  Holy  Scripture  and  unfold,  illustrate, 
amplify  them  for  enlightenment  and  persuasion,  and 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  have  them 
intensified  hy  profound  personal  conviction,  fused  in 
the  fires  of  one^s  own  soul,  poured  upon  waiting  ears 
and  hearts  from  lips  touched  with  God^s  altar-fire,  and 
accompanied  hy  every  possible  adjunct  of  effective 
posture  and  gesture  and  voice — this  is  preaching. 

4.  Other  agencies  that  help  tell  the  story.  Symbol 
and  sacrament  do  indeed  preach  for  God.  Music  and 
architecture,  by  their  rhythmic  song  and  silence,  make 
proclamation  of  the  everlasting  word.  The  wheels  of 
organized  Christian  activities  help  spread  the  Gospel. 
The  ubiquitous  press  with  its  prodigious  enterprise, 
scattering  its  leaves  as  the  drops  of  the  morning,  wings 
the  divine  message  to  millions.     Cross-signed  lives  and 


l8  The  Ideal  Ministry 

transformed  characters  tell  the  story  of  redemption. 
And  surely  the  Bible,  without  note  or  comment, 
brings  Christ  to  many  a  soul.  But  no  one  of  these, 
nor  all  of  them,  is  "  preaching  "  in  the  official  sense  of 
Christian  ambassadorship,  and  in  complete  obedience 
to  the  great  commission.  The  full-orbed  glory  of  the 
meaning  of  the  Master,  in  bidding  us  preach  His  word, 
we  do  not  see  until  we  see  a  living  man  before  living 
men  with  the  nameless  and  potent  charm  of  intense 
personality  so  crowding  into  his  speech,  as  he  preaches 
Christ  crucified,  that  it  becomes  the  power  of  God. 
The  total  of  human  personality  cannot  be  represented 
by  white  paper  and  black  ink.  The  total  of  truth  can- 
not be  preached  save  in  and  through  personality.  The 
man  behind  the  word  ;  the  word  in  the  man ;  truth  in 
and  through  the  person — this  is  the  norm  in  gospel 
evangelization. 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  as  if  the  business  of 
preaching  were  to  be  the  conspicuous  and  absorbing 
business  of  the  Church  of  God  until  the  end  of  the 
gospel  age. 

5.  Yet  we  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  some  signs  in 
the  sky,  seeming  to  forecast  the  decadence  of  preach- 
ing. Dr.  Storrs,  not  long  before  his  death,  in  two 
notable  articles,^  discussed  "  The  Future  of  the  Prot- 
estant  Pulpit  in  American  Society,"  and  noted  im- 
pressively the  facts  that  looked  like  prophecies  of 
waning  power.  He  named  as  some  of  these :  the 
preacher  no  longer  regarded  as  speaking  oracularly ; 
the  doubtful  or  critical  attitude  of  mind  towards  the 
preacher  and  his  words ;  the  prodigious  multiplication 
of  objects  of  absorbing  interest;  the  ever-hastening 

1  The  Independent,  April  20  and  27,  1899. 


Its  Permanent  Function  19 

rush  of  our  modern  life  ;  the  dense  massing  of  popula- 
tion in  our  cities  ;  the  break  in  the  continuity  of  city 
church  life  through  increasing  exodus  into  the  country 
each  year  for  a  period  of  weeks  and  months ;  the  les- 
sened power  of  copious  and  sonorous  public  speech — 
this  decline  in  eloquence  being  marked  at  the  bar  and 
in  parliament  and  assembly  as  well  as  in  the  pulpit ; 
the  Sunday  newspaper,  as  attractive  to  multitudes  as 
a  novel  of  society  or  a  drama  on  the  stage ;  and  the 
recent  criticism  of  Scripture,  conveying  the  impression 
of  its  uncertain  authority,  and  making  pulpit  teaching 
less  commanding  than  it  was. 

Now  some  of  these  points  might  well  be  challenged, 
some  might  be  shown  to  be  ephemeral,  some  might  be 
given  an  opposite  significance,  some  might  demand, 
not  abstention  from  preaching,  but  change  of  method 
and  a  study  of  adaptation. 

6.  But  concede  their  validity,  give  them  all  their 
full  weight,  and  over  against  them  we  place  the  old  yet 
ever-present  need  of  man,  the  cry  of  the  soul,  the 
sense  of  sin,  the  ineradicable  responsibility  of  person- 
ality, the  human  conscience,  the  unchanging  conviction 
of  the  truth  of  immortality,  the  unbridged  gulfs  in  any 
evolution  without  God,  the  history  of  Christianity,  the 
historic  Christ,  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the 
dead,  and  the  present  immanent  living  Christ !  And 
to  meet  this  need  and  answer  this  cry,  and  take  sin's 
burden  off,  and  restore  the  divine  image  to  personality, 
and  make  the  bird  in  the  bosom  sing  sweetly,  and 
prove  that  it  is  blessed  to  die,  here  is  this  living  Christ 
saying  to  His  living  Church,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.''^ 

7.  From  this  high  premise  these  things  follow  : 


20  The  Ideal  Ministry 

ia)  It  follows,  that  whatever  the  signs  of  the  times, 
whatever  the  adverse  conditions,  whatever  the  dark 
problems  of  city  life,  whatever  the  results  of  modern 
criticism,  if  it  should  ever  come  to  pass  that  preaching 
is  out  of  date,  then  it  will  have  also  come  to  pass  that 
Christianity  and  Christ  are  out  of  date  ;  for  in  this 
last  command  of  the  Master  the  word  preached  and 
the  living  Christ  are  tied  together  for  all  time.  The 
divine  order  is,  "  Go  preach  My  Gospel,"  and  the 
divine  promise  is,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

(]))  It  follows,  secondly,  that  no  modern  device  of 
human  wisdom,  no  possible  agency  of  any  sort  can 
supplant  the  preaching  of  the  Word  or  subordinate  the 
preaching  to  any  other  means  of  gospel  conquest. 
,  And  by  preaching  is  meant  not  simply,  nor  chiefly, 
printing  Bibles,  or  holy  living,  or  the  use  of  chant  and 
ritual,  but  the  public,  authoritative,  personal  proclama- 
tion of  the  truth  of  God  to  men  by  a  living  man. 
Such  preaching  as  Paul  meant  when,  facing  corrupt 
Corinth,  he  said  to  the  Christians  there,  "  I  am  de- 
termined not  to  know  anything  among  you  save  Jesus 
Christ "  ;  or  when  facing  imperial  Rome,  he  said,  "  As 
much  as  in  me  is,  I  am  ready  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
you  that  are  at  Rome  also  "  ;  or  when  itinerating  the 
pagan  provinces,  he  went  everywhere  triumphing  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Such  preaching  as  Peter's — not  so  much 
when  he  wrote  his  two  epistles  of  consolation  for  the 
world's  bruised  and  broken  hearts,  but  rather  when 
under  the  power  of  God  at  Pentecost  he  poured  his 
ardent  spirit  down  the  channel  of  public  speech  and 
won  three  thousand  souls  to  Christ.  Such  preaching 
as  Timothy  was  charged  with  when  he  was  apostolically 


Its  Permanent  Function  21 

enjoined  to  ^''preach  the  Word  /  he  instant  in  season^ 
out  of  season  y  reprove,  rehuhe,  exhort  with  all  long 
suffering  and  teaching^  This  is  New  Testament 
preaching.  It  is  no  hazy  thing,  as  if  it  were  a  misty 
and  mystic  conglomerate  of  all  influence  for  Christ. 
We  know  what  it  is.  It  has  a  boundary.  It  can  be 
defined.  It  is  God's  chief  instrument  of  conquest. 
And  history  shows  us  that  fidelity  to  it  marks  the 
rising  Church  ;  that  infidelity  to  it  marks  the  falling 
Church.  Nay,  more :  it  is  the  test  and  sifter  of  all 
modern  panaceas  that  are  offered  to  heal  the 
world's  bleeding  hurts.  You  may  know  the  nos- 
trums by  this  unfailing  sign :  Do  they  make  con- 
spicuous and  luminous  the  preaching  of  the  Word  ? 
Do  they  set  forth  Christ  crucified  as  the  only 
power  of  God  unto  salvation?  If  they  do,  they  are 
of  God. 

But  look  at  the  so-called  "  social  settlement,"  that 
is  silent  in  all  its  public  speech  as  to  the  gospel  settle- 
ment for  sin.  Look  at  the  sociological  movements 
that  swell  with  reform  and  shrink  to  the  last  degree 
of  littleness  at  any  thought  of  spiritual  regeneration, 
so  that  there  is  no  room  for  the  new  birth  in  their 
remedial  agency.  Look  at  Christian  Science,  that 
preaches  more  often  the  word  of  a  woman  than  the 
word  of  the  Master.  There  is  danger  even  in  some  of 
our  best-meant  devices  of  gospel  propagandism  that 
they  subordinate,  and  so  dishonour,  God's  ordained 
method  of  reaching  and  saving  men,  by  retiring  the 
preaching  of  the  Word  and  bringing  to  the  front  with 
bustling  activity  and  iterated  emphasis  the  loaves  and 
fishes  of  a  mere  material  and  social  life.  We  want 
clean  streets,  and  fine  parks,  and  good  drainage,  and 


22  The  Ideal  Ministry 

municipal  reform.  But  Paris  has  all  these.  Is  Paris 
any  nearer  clean  hearts  ? 

Mark  this,  O  ye  heralds  of  God!  You  cannot 
hasten  the  millennial  glory  by  making  the  Church  of 
Christ  a  vast  soup-kitchen,  or  club-house,  or  lecture- 
ship platform,  with  a  gospel  attachment.  The  New 
Testament  is  a  message.  First  of  all,  and  of tenest  of 
all,  it  must  be  delivered.     Go,  preach. 

{c)  It  follows  thirdly,  that  by  this  sign  we  conquer. 
How  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  The  order  is  the  King's. 
And  it  is  the  one  distinctive  order  that  He  distinctly, 
backs  by  a  limitless  amplitude  of  power.  "  All  au- 
thority is  given  unto  Me  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Go 
ye,  therefore,  into  all  the  world  and  preach.  Go  ye, 
therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations."  How 
can  preaching  fail  with  such  backing  ?  Shame  on  the 
Church  that  will  fly  to  other  measures  in  despair  of 
this !  There  ought  to  be  no  standing-room  on  earth 
for  a  preaching  coward. 

Men  of  the  ministry,  do  we  really  believe  Christ  is 
behind  this  thing  ?  Do  we  believe  His  hand  is  on  all 
heaven's  forces,  and  earth's,  too,  as  He  bids  us  go  and 
preach  ?  Then  never  shall  we  be  lured  or  driven  to 
anything  that  will  make  it  seem  as  if  we  were  tremb- 
ling for  our  pulpit  throne.  Let  us  plan  for  and  wel- 
come organized  activity,  helpful  adjunct,  Christian  en- 
deavour, men's  clubs,  social  pact,  help  for  God's  poor, 
the  enthusiasm  of  comradeship.  But  in  the  midst  of 
all  these  let  us  set  preaching,  chief,  supreme,  regnant, 
and  give  it  our  utmost  toil,  our  consuming  zeal,  our 
heart's  blood,  as  the  heaven-ordained  instrument  and 
agency  by  which  salvation  cometh.  If  we  find  we 
cannot  "raise  the  dead  in  thirty  minutes";  if  the 


Its  Permanent  Function  23 

dense  population  of  a  great  city  confronts  us  with  its 
awful  problems  and  its  dark  despair  and  its  seething 
mass  of  pollution,  making  the  case  look  desperate  for 
truth  and  righteousness ;  if  a  hostile  criticism  looks  up 
at  us  with  conscious  authority,  threatening  to  lessen 
the  authority  of  God's  Word  and  to  make  the  pulpit 
seem  "  a  piece  of  antiquated  lumber"  that  has  had  its 
day  and  should  cease  to  be,  God  forbid  that  we  should 
run  to  the  wish-wash  and  tow  of  some  modern  reforma- 
tory device  of  man  to  get  our  case.  Let  us  preach  on ; 
that's  our  business ;  that's  the  King's  business.  We 
are  not  going  to  raise  these  dead  souls,  thrice  dead  and 
buried  in  the  godless  worldliness  of  our  modern  life ; 
Ave  are  not  going  to  pierce  this  blackness  of  darkness 
of  city  pollution  with  the  radiant  beams  of  transform- 
ing day ;  we  are  not  going  to  answer  the  critics  and 
make  defense  of  the  truth — by  abandoning  preaching 
and  running  to  "  settlements,"  and  soup-kitchens,  and 
carpenter  shops,  and  sanitariums,  and  bath-houses,  and 
sacred  concerts. 

{d)  It  follows,  fourthly,  that,  if  the  sermon  has  be- 
come a  back  number,  ih^fact  of  preaching  is  not  what's 
the  matter,  but  the  kind  of  preaching.  And  we  may 
have  to  tear  our  kind  to  shreds  and  trample  it  under 
our  feet,  and  cry  to  God  for  another  kind,  before  the 
dead  come  forth,  or  the  city's  stench  grows  sweet,  or 
the  critics  join  both  in  intelligent  and  believing  ac- 
ceptance of  the  Word  of  God  as  the  only  infallible  rule 
of  faith  and  practice. 

When  the  preacher,  charged  to  feed  the  flock  of  God 
and  to  rescue  the  perishing,  gets  a  chief  reputation  for 
scholarship,  and  no  reputation  whatever  for  spiritual 
power — when  the  consuming  joy  of  such  a  preacher  is 


24  The  Ideal  Ministry 

to  go  on  long  and  eager  microscopic  research  in  mat- 
ters of  speculative  interest,  but  of  no  practical  value 
— then  look  out  for  a  theological  mummy.  We  shall 
have  him — plenty  of  him — dead  and  dry. 

But  do  we  not  want  scholarship  in  the  ministry  ?  O 
yes,  we  want  the  finest  scholarship.  An  empty  mind 
has  only  one  gift — what  Spurgeon  once  called  "  a 
hideous  gift " — the  gift  of  saying  nothing  at  great 
length. 

But  does  not  this  advocacy  of  "  preaching  "  as  the 
permanent,  conspicuous  function  of  the  ministry  tend 
to  narrowness  ?  By  no  means.  We  are  running  no 
tilt  against  breadth  of  scholarship  in  the  ministry.  We 
want  broadness ;  but  we  want  it  of  a  particular  kind. 
Surely  not  the  blanket  and  barn-door  variety  that 
keeps  forever  broad  and  flat ;  but  the  kind  that  can  be 
focussed  and  concentrated  and  made  to  bear  mightily 
on  the  brains  and  hearts  and  wills  that  wait  upon  the 
preacher  Sabbath  by  Sabbath  to  hear  what  message 
he  has  from  God.  Let  special  fondness  for  this  or 
that  study  be  tested  by  the  help  the  study  renders  in 
achieving  the  supreme  aim  of  preaching,  or  in  master- 
ing and  making  effective  its  subject-matter,  or  in  doing 
its  preeminent  business.  And  let  the  curb  and  bit  be 
put  resolutely  on  any  linguistic  bias,  or  delight  in 
philosophic  speculation  or  passion  for  antiquarian  re- 
search, from  which  the  preacher  returns  with  reluc- 
tance to  his  God-ordained  work  of  ministry,  as  if  it 
were  a  monotonous  drudgery,  which  he  would  fain  get 
through  with  as  soon  as  possible,  that  he  may  go  back 
again  to  his  favourite  fields  of  study.  "  Go  ye  into  all 
the  world  and  preach,'''^  is  the  divine  order.  Let  the 
answer  be :     In  Rome  or  Athens,  in  town  or  country, 


Its  Permanent  Function  25 

in  the  seats  of  high  culture  or  in  the  heart  of  pagan 
continents,  in  the  palaces  or  in  the  slums,  *'  as  much 
as  in  me  is,"  always  and  everywhere,  I  am  ready  to 
preach. 


II 


THE  IDEAL  MINISTRY— ITS  SUPEEME  AIM 
PERFECT  MANHOOD  IN  CHRIST  JESUS 


SYLLABUS 

1.  It   is  in  aim  that  secular  aud  sacred  public  speech  radically 

differ.  Secular  public  speech  aims  to  move  the  will.  Sacred 
public  speech  aims  to  move  the  will  Godward. 

2.  Scriptural  confirmation  : 

(a)  This  is  what  Christ  gave  Himself  to  the  Church  for 
(Eph.  4  :  11,  12). 

(6)  This  is  the  exact  meaning  of  the  "Great  Commis- 
sion "  (Matt.  28  :  19,  20),  Go  ye  and  make  and  teach 
disciples.  Rescue  men  from  spiritual  death,  and 
build  them  up  in  spiritual  life. 

3.  While  this  is  being  done,    many  other  things  will  be  done : 

Social  conditions  will  be  revolutionized  ;  governments  will  be 
made  pure ;  clean  homes  and  streets  and  politics  will  be  the 
universal  order ;  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth  will  at  last 
witness,  in  its  completeness,  to  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God. 

4.  The  God-appointed  means  for  all  this  is  the  Preaching  of  the 

Word,  constituting  the  ministry  of  Reconciliation  and  the 
ministry  of  Sanctijication.  No  other  ministry  for  a  man  of 
God  or  a  church  of  God. 

5.  Two  things  made  impossible  by  the  presence  of  this  supreme 

aim  — 

(a)    That  the  sermon  should  be  prepared  with  only  the 

sermon  in  view. 
(6)    That  one  should  think  lightly  of  homiletic  toil. 


II 

THE  IDEAL  MIMSTRY— ITS  SUPREME  AIM  : 
PERFECT  MANHOOD  IN  CHRIST  JESUS 

THE  supreme  aim  is  perfect  manhood  in  Christ 
Jesus.  The  preacher's  finished  work  is  not  a 
finished  sermon,  but  a  Christlike  soul.  He 
constructs  a  sermon  that  he  may  reconstruct  a  man. 
Salvation  is  his  weekly  purpose  ;  not  reformation, 
not  social  improvement,  not  intellectual  uplift,  not 
aesthetic  delight,  but  salvation  in  its  broad  Scriptural 
sense. 

1.  It  is  just  here  that  sacred  public  speech  differs 
radically  and  fundamentally  from  secular  public  speech. 
Secular  public  speech  aims  to  move  the"  will.  Sacred 
public  speech  aims  to  move  the  will  God  ward.  This 
is  its  vital  function  and  distinguishing  characteristic — 
persuasion  to  a  divine  life  and  to  growth  in  that  life, 
"  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of 
Christ"  (Eph.  4:  13). 

True  preaching  is  thus  the  truly  divine  art ;  for  it 
ties  to  art  this  supreme  exalted  aim  of  transforming 
men  into  the  divine  image. 

The  speech  of  the  pujpit  that  does  not  have  this  in 
view  is  not  preaching.  It  may  be  learned  in  exegesis, 
critical  in  commentary,  profound  in  philosophy,  and 
richly  historical,  and  so  be  instructive.  It  may  have 
wealth  of  illustration  and  imagery  and  beauty  of 
rhetorical  form,  and  so  be  pleasing.     But  this  is  only 

29 


30  The  Ideal  Ministry 

to  be  at  the  level  of  any  other  art  or  authorship, — 
contributive  of  instruction  or  pleasure.  It  is  not  a  true 
gospel  ministry,  unless  the  vital  function  of  persuasion 
to  divine  life  is  in  it  as  an  end  distinctly  aimed  at. 

This  is  not  disparaging  instruction  nor  ignoring 
emotion.  It  is  only  insisting  on  a  certain  use  of  in- 
struction and  emotion. 

Preaching  is  teaching — it  must  give  instruction,  of 
course.  Truth  must  be  unfolded.  Mere  hortatory  ad- 
dress is  beating  the  air.  Of  Christ  who  claimed  to 
be  divinely  anointed  to  preach  the  Gospel  it  is  said  in 
Scripture,  "  He  opened  His  mouth  and  taught."  Alas, 
some  of  His  professed  representatives  in  the  pulpit 
never  get  beyond  the  open  mouth.  But  to  teach  is 
vital.  The  point  of  emphasis  now  is  the  Mnd.  It 
must  be  oratorical  teaching,  looking  beyond  mere  in- 
struction. The  will !  The  will  !  To  be  f orevermore 
reaching  and  moving  the  will,  so  that  it  shall  be  more 
and  more  like  the  will  of  God — this  is  the  end  of  all  true 
gospel  ministry  ;  the  function  of  every  sermon. 

Preaching  must  also  give  pleasure.  It  is  an  art — 
the  divinest  of  arts.  It  must  be  exhibitive  of  rhetor- 
ical and  moral  beauty.  But  the  differentiating  feature 
of  sermonic  art  is  that  it  does  not  stop  with  pleasing 
the  aesthetic  sense  and  kindling  emotion.  It  looks  on 
beyond  the  emotion  and,  through  that,  strikes  at 
character.  Not  art  for  art's  sake — to  give  pleasure ; 
but  art  for  the  souPs  sake — to  give  more  likeness  to 
Christ.  Not  the  mere  art  to  win  by,  but  to  win  to 
godlike  things. 

So  it  is ;  a  true  gospel  ministry  means,  first  and  last 
and  always,  perfect  manhood  in  Christ  Jesus — both 
rescue  work  and  constructive  work,  freeing  men  not 


Its  Supreme  Aim  31 

only  from  sin's  penalty  but  from  sin's  power  and  sin's 
pollution  until  at  last  they  are  complete  in  Christ. 
And  so  it  is,  winning  souls  and  building  souls  are 
alike  and  forever  the  work  of  every  man  who  has  the 
care  of  souls. 

2.  Mark  now  the  Scriptural  confirmations  of  this 
truth  : 

(a)  The  Scriptures  expressly  declare  that  this  is 
what  Christ  gave  Himself  to  the  Church  for — "  that  He 
might  present  it  to  Himself,  a  glorious  Church,  not 
having  spot  or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing  "  (Eph.  5 ; 
27).  And  the  Scriptures  expressly  declare  that  this  is 
what  God  calls  men  to  the  ministry  for  :  "  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  unto  the  work  of  ministering, 
unto  the  building  up  of  the  body  of  Christ  "  (Eph.  4 : 
11-12).  The  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  em- 
bodies this  biblical  idea  in  its  declaration  that  "  to  the 
Catholic  visible  Church  Christ  hath  given  the  ministry 
for  the  gathering  and  perfecting  of  the  saints  in  this 
life  to  the  end  of  the  world  "  (Confession,  Ch.  XXY  : 

3). 

(h)  And  this  is  the  exact  meaning  and  scope  of  the 
great  gospel  commission  (Matt.  28  :  19-20).  There  are 
just  two  things  in  that  last  command  the  official  ambas- 
sadors of  Christ  are  told  to  do.  They  are  to  go  into 
all  the  world  and  "  make  disciples,"  and  they  are  to 
"  teach  "  these  disciples  "  what  Christ  has  commanded." 

The  first  is  rescuing  men  from  spiritual  death.  The 
second  is  building  them  up  in  spiritual  life.  This 
is  comprehensive  of  the  entire  work  of  the  gospel 
ministry  ;  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  great  gospel 
commission. 

3.  Of  course,  while  this  twofold  work  is  being  done, 


32  The  Ideal  Ministry 

many  other  things  will  be  done — many  glorious 
things.  Social  conditions  will  be  revolutionized ; 
governments  will  be  made  pure  and  peaceable  ;  right- 
eousness will  increasingly  prevail ;  ethical  values  will 
have  wider  and  wider  recognition  ;  clean  homes  and 
clean  streets  and  clean  politics  will  come  to  be  the 
universal  order ;  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth 
will  at  last  witness  in  its  completeness  to  "  the  mani- 
fold (the  variegated)  wisdom  of  God."  Christ  will 
then  see  to  the  full  of  the  travail  of  His  soul — see  it 
in  its  complete  and  splendid  realization — and  be  satis- 
fied ;  and  all  creation  will  join  in  the  anthem :  "  Glory 
be  to  the  Father  and  to  the  Son  and  to  the  Holy 
Ghost."  This  will  be  the  final  and  blessed  consum- 
mation. 

4.  But  meanwhile,  and  down  to  "  the  end  of  the 
age,"  the  God-appointed  means  to  the  attainment  of 
this  mighty  triumph  is  the preaohing  of  the  Word.  And 
this  constitutes  that  double  gospel  ministry  so  often  re- 
ferred to  in  Holy  Scripture — namely,  the  ministry  of 
reconciliation  and  the  ministry  of  sanctification. 
There  is  no  other  ministry  for  a  man  of  God  or  a 
Church  of  God. 

As  to  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  or  the  work  of 
rescue :  We  are  under  the  order  of  the  great  com- 
mission to  "  make  disciples."  We  are  bidden  to  go 
out  and  "compel  "  men  to  come  in.  In  the  spirit  of 
our  blessed  Lord  we  are  "  to  seek  and  save  the  lost." 

As  to  the  ministry  of  sanctification,  or  the  work  of 
structure,  Paul  tells  us  it  is  proclaiming  Christ ; 
"  admonishing  every  man  and  teaching  every  man  in 
all  wisdom,  that  we  may  present  every  man  perfect  in 
Christ  Jesus." 


Its  Supreme  Aim  33 

5.  Mark  now  how  the  presence  of  this  supreme  aim 
in  preaching  makes  two  things  impossible  : 

(a)  It  makes  It  impossible  that  a  sermon  should  ever 
be  prepared  with  only  the  sermon  in  view,  for  the  end  is 
not  a  new  sermon  but  a  new  man,  and  the  sermon  is  a 
means  to  that  end.  How  has  it  been  with  the  world^s 
great  orators  ?  Surely  they  did  not  have  great  ora- 
tions in  view,  but  living  men  and  mighty  issues,  when 
they  prepared  their  immortal  speech.  And  Raphael 
was  not  intent  on  a  magnificent  picture,  so  much  as  on 
a  lofty  ideal,  that  should  stir  and  uplift  human  hearts, 
when  he  painted  the  Sistine  Madonna.  Tempted  and 
overborne  of  the  devil  must  be  the  preacher  who 
deliberately  sets  about  to  prepare  sermons  as  such, 
with  no  reference  to  the  work  they  are  to  do.  He 
must  beware  of  an  idolatry  of  sermons — fine  sermons, 
show  sermons,  great  sermons.     Sermons  are  tools. 

(5)  A  second  thing  made  impossible  by  the  presence 
of  this  supreme  aim  in  preaching  is  the  thinking  lightly 
of  sermonic  toil.  Sermons  are  tools,  indeed.  Never- 
theless, what  work  they  do !  And,  therefore,  what 
tools  they  ought  to  be !  How  exquisitely  tempered 
and  fashioned !  How  fitted  to  the  needs  and  con- 
ditions of  that  pliant,  and  yet  resistant,  and  some- 
times defiant  element  upon  which  sermons  are  to  do 
their  work — the  spirit  of  man  !  Unlike  secular  dis- 
course, which  aims  at  influencing  for  a  particular 
measure — to  secure  a  vote,  a  verdict,  a  present  im- 
pression, or  an  elevation  of  taste  or  judgment — sacred 
discourse  strikes  at  the  very  seat  and  soul  of  character. 
A  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus  is  its  first  and  last  and 
supreme  intent.  And  this  is  Redemption's  intent. 
And  thus  the  sublime  purpose  of  God's  whole  plan  of 


24  The  Ideal  Ministry 

salvation  crowds  itself  into  every  true  sermon.  Tie 
tliat  idea  to  sermon-making — have  it  distinctly 
associated  with  every  effort  of  gospel  ministry — let 
it  be  grasped  all  along  the  process  of  pulpit  prepara- 
tion— and  a  "  fire  in  the  bones,"  a  passion  for  souls,  is 
as  sure  of  birth  as  day  is  when  the  sun  comes  forth 
out  of  his  chamber. 


Ill 

THE  IDEAL  MINISTRY— ITS  RULING  SPIRIT : 

LOVE 


SYLLABUS 

Love  in  God  gave  birth  to  the  wondrous  plan.  Love  in  Christ  gave 
up  everything  to  give  us  everything.  Love  in  the  Holy  Spirit  leads 
him  to  brood  and  strive  even  vs^here  He  is  grieved  and  resisted.  Love 
is  the  whole  law  ;  love  is  the  gift  of  gifts. 

Faith  must  work  by  love. 

Truth  must  be  spoken  in  love. 

Eloquence  is  * '  sounding  brass  ' '  without  love. 

Knowledge  is  "  nothing  "  without  love. 

Self-sacrifice,  even  to  the  giving  of  one's  body  to  be  burned,  is  of 
no  profit  if  love  be  absent. 

"  Truthing  it  in  love  "  is  the  very  heart  of  the  gospel  ministry.  It 
is  Jesus  coming  unto  His  own,  when  He  knew  His  own  would  not  re- 
ceive Him.  It  is  standing  in  Christ's  stead,  with  Christ's  spirit,  be- 
seeching men  to  be  reconciled. 

This  love  is  a  growth.  We  cannot  resolve  ourselves  into  it  or  get  it 
by  a  spasm. 

Association,  meditation,  contemplation — this  is  the  secret. 


Ill 

THE  IDEAL  MINISTEY— ITS  EULIKG  SPIEIT  : 

LOVE 

IT  is  preeminently  the  spirit  of  love — an  absorbing 
love  for  Christ  and  truth  and  men.  Love  gave 
birth  to  the  plan  of  redemption,  and  love  floods 
the  whole  scheme.  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He 
gave  His  only  begotten  Son  to  die  for  it.  Christ  so 
loved  the  world  that  He  gave  up  everything  to  give 
us  everything.  The  Holy  Spirit  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  came  to  stay  in  the  midst  of  it  pollution  and 
here  He  broods  and  broods  even  where  He  is  grieved 
and  wounded  and  rejected.  The  whole  law  is  in  this : 
Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself.  Clearly, 
love  is  the  commanding  commandment.  Love  is  the 
gift  of  gifts.  Faith,  Hope,  Love,  these  three,  but  the 
greatest  of  these  is  love.  An  ideal  gospel  ministry — 
any  real  gospel  ministry — is  impossible  without  it.  It 
is  an  atmosphere — pervasive,  vital.  The  man  who 
seeks  to  give  this  Gospel  to  dying  men  must  have 
faith,  but  it  is  a  faith  which  "  worketh  by  love."  He 
must  speak  God's  truth,  but  he  is  to  be  always  heard 
"  speaking  the  truth  in  love."  He  must  be  profoundly 
in  earnest,  but  his  earnestness  is  to  be  by  the  con- 
straining power  of  love.  And  his  work  of  ministry 
will  be  true  and  Christlike  as  it  is  bathed  with  a  su- 
preme affection. 
It  is  true  of  no   other  vocation  as  it  is  of  this.     A 

37 


38  The  Ideal  Ministry- 

lawyer  can  make  a  great  legal  plea  without  love.  It 
is  a  matter  of  intellect,  pure  and  simple.  What  saith 
the  law  ?  A  physician  may  be  a  great  practitioner 
without  love.  Keen,  thorough,  searching  diagnosis  of 
diseases  is  not  dependent  on  a  state  of  heart.  Hear 
Paul  on  this  matter.  He  was  the  apostle  of  brains, 
scholarship,  high  culture.  He  could  mass  arguments 
and  drive  truth  home  by  logical  process,  as  could  few 
men  of  his  own  time  or  of  any  time.  Well,  this 
trained  intellectual  athlete  takes  the  things  that  are 
prized  most  among  men — eloquence,  knowledge  and 
self-sacrifice — and  he  says  of  eloquence  :  "  Though  I 
speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels  and  have 
not  love^  I  am  become  sounding  brass  !  "  And  he  says 
of  knowledge:  "Though  I  know  all  mysteries  and 
all  knowledge  and  have  not  love,  I  am  nothing."  And 
he  says  of  self-sacrifice :  "  Though  I  bestow  all  my 
goods  to  feed  the  poor  and  give  my  body  to  be  burned, 
but  have  not  love,  it  profiteth  me  nothing  "  (1  Cor.  13). 
And  this  was  no  mere  theory  with  this  mighty  man 
of  God.  He  did  not  carry  it  about  with  him  as  a 
patent,  for  occasional  exhibition.  It  dominated  all  his 
thinking.  It  coloured  all  his  preaching.  It  was  the 
secret  of  his  power.  Many  are  accustomed  to  look 
upon  the  apostle  as  intensely  fond  of  the  austerities  of 
rigid  and  relentless  doctrine,  and  of  choice  the  en- 
thusiastic champion  of  the  harder  and  severer  side  of 
truth.  But  while  he  was  indeed  a  great  reasoner,  he 
was  also  a  great  lover.  While  he  grappled  with  great 
doctrines,  he  also  got  a  deathless  hold  of  men's  hearts. 
The  truth  is,  no  man  of  all  the  apostles  felt  more 
deeply,  loved  more  devotedly,  gave  himself  to  Christ 
and  His  Church  and  souls  with  a  greater  passion  of 


Its  Ruling  Spirit  39 

affection  than  Paul.  His  love  sometimes  glows  and 
burns  in  his  epistles  until  everything  else  seems  con- 
sumed in  the  fiery  flood  of  it.  Now  it  bursts  forth  in 
a  very  riot  of  tumultuous  passion ;  now  it  calms  itself 
in  a  deep  of  almost  infinite  tenderness.  He  warned 
men  night  and  day,  but  he  warned  them  with  tears 
like  his  Master.  He  was  swept  out  to  men  and  into 
them,  as  by  a  passion  for  their  welfare.  He  poured 
out  such  treasures  of  desire,  such  passionate  longing, 
such  deep,  strong,  tender,  self-surrendering  love  as  no- 
where else  has  expression  in  human  language,  except 
from  Him  who  "  spake  as  never  man  spake."  Whether 
he  wrote  to  Ephesus,  or  Colosse,  or  Thessalonica,  or 
Philippi,  or  Kome,  it  was  all  one  way.  His  love,  his 
yearning,  tender,  tearful  love  and  sympathy,  broke  out 
everywhere. 

You,  young  men  in  the  ministry  or  on  your  way  to 
the  ministry,  who  are  ambitious,  and  rightly  ambitious, 
to  be  great  scholars,  great  reasoners,  great  intellectual 
forces  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  here  is  your  model — 
Paul !  In  logical  force,  in  mental  grasp,  in  sweep  of 
reason  and  imagination,  he  had  no  equal  in  the  apos- 
tolate,  and  has  had  scarcely  an  equal  among  men. 
But  listen  !  To  the  Church  in  Thessalonica  he  writes  : 
"  Being  affectionately  desirous  of  you,  we  were  well 
pleased  to  impart  unto  you,  not  the  Gospel  of  God 
only,  but  also  our  own  souls,  because  ye  were  become 
very  dear  to  us,"  and  "  ye  know  how  we  dealt  with 
each  one  of  you  as  a  father  with  his  own  children  " 
(1  Thess.  2  :  8,  10).  And  to  the  Church  at  Corinth  he 
writes :  "  I  seek  not  yours  but  you.  .  .  .  And  I 
will  most  gladly  spend  and  be  spent  for  your  souls.  If 
I  love  you  more  abundantly,  am  I  loved  the  less  ? " 


40  The  Ideal  Ministry 

(2  Cor.  12:  15).  Think  of  the  tears  this  man  shed,  of 
the  prayers  he  poured  out  of  his  yearning  heart — 
prayers  richer  and  deeper  than  his  arguments — think 
of  his  joy  in  being  a  fool  for  Christ's  sake,  of  his  will- 
ingness to  be  *'  all  things  to  all  men  "  that  he  might 
win  some.  Love  and  sympathy  bent  him  to  every 
need  of  human  nature.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  thus 
paraphrases  Paul's  noble  avowal :  "  I  know  how  to 
fit  myself  to  every  sinuosity  and  rugosity  of  every 
single  disposition  with  which  I  have  to  deal.  You 
cannot  find  me  a  man  so  deep  or  so  high,  so  blunt  or 
so  sharp,  but  I  would  take  the  shape  of  that  man's  dis- 
position in  order  to  come  into  sympathy  with  him,  if 
by  so  doing  I  could  lift  him  to  a  higher  and  a  nobler 
plane  of  life." 

"  Truthing  it  in  love  " — this  is  the  heart  of  gospel 
ministry  ;  this  is  the  ruling  spirit  in  all  true  preaching 
— the  distinctive  quality  without  which  both  messen- 
ger and  message  are  as  light  without  heat,  as  body 
without  soul.  It  is  the  reaching  out  of  the  heart  to 
bless  others,  whether  they  be  lovely  or  unlovely.  It 
is  Jesus  coming  unto  His  own,  when  He  knew  His 
own  would  receive  Him  not ;  pouring  into  the  world's 
heart  the  great  and  mighty  passion  of  sympathizing 
and  suffering  love,  that  He  might  glorify  its  baseness 
and  change  its  enmity  to  friendship.  It  is  standing  in 
Christ's  stead,  with  Christ's  spirit,  to  beseech  men  to 
be  reconciled. 

Tempered  by  an  affectionate  tenderness,  then,  must 
all  preaching  be,  to  reach  and  move  men.  And  this 
rare,  godlike  quality  is  a  growth.  Its  dominance  in 
the  soul  must  come  by  cultivation.  We  cannot  re- 
solve ourselves  into  it.     We  cannot  get  it  by  a  spasm. 


Its  Ruling  Spirit  41 

t 

But  it  belongs  to  preaching  as  fragrance  to  the  violet, 
as  beauty  to  the  rainbow,  as  guilelessness  to  Je§ys.  ' 
Cold  and  hard  and  repellent  is  a  gospel  ministry  \vitl>-*  * 
out  it.  God  pity  the  students  of  His  mysteries  who 
go  to  their  work  with  little  or  none  of  the  glow  of 
this  love  in  their  hearts.  They  can  preach  the  hard 
things  of  revelation,  the  severest  truths  of  God,  with 
acceptance  and  power,  with  this  ruling  spirit  in  them, 
dominating  their  speech,  glorifying  their  calling,  and 
giving  even  to  "  the  terrors  of  the  Lord "  a  tearful 
pathos.  But  they  will  be  as  those  who  beat  the  air  if 
thev  have  it  not. 

Is  it  asked  how  the  spirit  of  love  may  be  deepened 
and  developed  until  it  completely  possesses  the 
preacher?  Association,  meditation,  contemplation — 
this  is  the  secret.  Be  often  at  Calvary.  Stay  near 
the  cross.  Look  up  into  the  face  of  the  Crucified.  If 
you  would  be  moulded  into  the  image  of  His  divine 
passion — hathed  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  His  sacri- 
fice— this  is  the  way.  Kothing  will  so  stir  and  feed 
this  divine  and  holy  love  and  bring  it  to  supremacy 
in  the  soul.  "  The  immediate  intuition  of  the  great 
Atonement  arms  the  preacher  with  a  wonderful  ten- 
derness and  power  of  entreaty.  Other  doctrines  are 
powerful,  but  this  carries  him  beyond  himself,  and 
fills  him  with  a  deathless  affection  for  God  and  the 
soul  of  man."  ^ 

iHomiletica,"  Dr.  W.  G.  T.  Shedd,  p.  255. 


IV 

THE   IDEAL  MINISTRY— ITS  SUBJECT-MATTER : 
THE  WORD  OF  GOD 


SYLLABUS 

What  to  preach,  a  more  vital  matter  than  when,  or  how,  or  by 
whom. 

I.    Three  things,  fairly  considered,  go  far  to  settle  this  question  of 
what  the  man  of  God  is  to  talk  about  in  his  official  ministry. 
(a)     His  position— a  herald. 
(6)     His  commission — to  preach  the  Gospel. 
(e)     His  aim — to  make  men  like  Christ. 
II.     Mark  the  vast  variety  of  Holy  Scripture. 

III.  Hence  the  folly  of  tampering  with  Holy  Scripture  : 

(a)     By  unduly  spiritualizing  Scripture. 
(6)     By  using  Scripture  by  accommodation, 
(c)     By  resorting  to  shifts  and  twists  to  get  an  "uj)- 
to-date ' '  message. 

IV.  From  these  promises  four  things  follow  : 

(a)     "What  a  text  for  a  sermon  should  be  : 

Never  a  pretext, 
ib)     What  fidelity  to  the  text  will  secure : 

(1)  The  greatest  variety 

(2)  The  best  exegesis. 

(3)  The  most  Scriptural  instruction. 

(4)  The  most  honour  to  the  Spirit. 

(c)     What  selecting  and  announcing  a  text  is  doing : 

(1)  It  is  virtually  saying,  "I  bring  you  to-day  the 

Word  of  God." 

(2)  It  is  determining  the  leading  of  God's  spirit. 

(3)  It  is  selecting  a  remedy  best  adapted  to  the  actual 

need. 
{d)     What  the  minister  needs  in  determining  this  varied  Sab- 
bath ministry. 
To  choose  texts  wisely  he  must  "  walk  with  God." 


IV 

THE   IDEAL  MIKISTEY— ITS  SUBJECT-MATTEE  : 
THE  \YOED  OF  GOD 

WHAT  to  preach  is  a  more  vital  question  than 
when,  or  why,  or  by  whom.  If  the  supreme 
aim  of  an  ideal  gospel  ministry  is  perfect 
manhood  in  Christ  Jesus,  then  the  thing  that  will 
make  that  manhood  is  the  thing  to  preach  :  When 
Jesus  said  to  His  disciples,  "  Ye  shall  know  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free,"  He  did  not  mean 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  philosophy  or  science  or  the  stars. 
When  Jesus  prayed,  "  Sanctify  them  by  Thy  truth," 
He  did  not  mean  any  truth,  for  He  added,  "  Thy  word 
is  truth."  And  "  preach  the  Word,"  is  the  repeated 
and  positive  injunction  of  prophet  and  apostle  and 
Jesus. 

I.  Three  things,  fairly  considered,  go  far  to  settle 
this  question  of  what  the  man  of  God  is  to  talk  about 
in  his  oflBcial  ministry.  They  are :  his  ofl&ce,  his  com- 
mission, his  aim. 

{a)  The  preacher's  office :  He  is  called  in  the  Word 
of  God  a  herald,  a  proclaimer,  a  public  messenger.  The 
herald  does  not  create  his  message.  He  carries  the 
message  of  the  power  that  sends  him  forth.  He  is 
simply  the  medium  by  which  the  message  is  trans- 
mitted. He  is  to  explain  the  message,  to  render  its 
true  meaning ;  but  it  is  utterly  beyond  his  province  to 
add  to,  or  to  take  from,  the  message  with  which  he 

45 


46  The  Ideal  Ministry 

has  been  entrusted.  vThe  preacher  is  God's  herald. 
And  as  such  he  has  God's  message  to  deliver — neither 
more  nor  less.  He  is  also  called  in  Scripture  an  aiiibas- 
sador.  An  ambassador  represents  his  government ; 
has  his  instructions ;  knows  his  government's  wishes. 
To  go  beyond  them,  means  instant  rebuke  or  recall. 
The  preacher  is  an  ambassador  for  Christ,  his  King, 
the  King  of  kings.  He  is  shut  up  to  his  instructions. 
What  the  Word  of  God  authorizes  him  to  preach,  that 
he  is  to  preach.  Anything  else  is  recreancy  to  a  great 
trust. 

ih)  The  preacher's  commission  :  It  is  found  in  the 
last  words  of  instruction  given  by  Jesus  to  His  disciples : 
"  Go  ye,  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  teaching  them 
to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded 
you.''''  And  again :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 

That  this  is  what  all  preachers  for  all  time  are  to 
teach  is  evidenced  by  the  added  words  of  Christ: 
"  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world  "  (Matt.  28  :  20).  So  every  man  commissioned 
to  preach  has  his  instructions.  He  is  to  go  every- 
where, as  those  early  commissioned  heralds  and  ambas- 
sadors went,  "  holding  forth  the  word  of  life."  It  was 
this  that  whole  cities  "  came  out  to  hear."  It  was  this 
that  "  mightily  grew  "  and  "  prevailed."  It  was  this 
that  "  was  not  bound."  It  was  this  that  was  "  living 
and  active  and  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  pierc- 
ing even  to  the  dividing  of  soul  and  spirit  "  (Heb. 
4 :  12).  It  was  this  that  led  men  to  cry  out,  "  What 
shall  we  do  to  be  saved  ? "  And  it  was  this  that 
answered  that  cry  and  gave  them  a  Saviour. 

As  then,  so  ever  since,  and  now  and  forevermore. 


Its  Subject-Matter  47 

It  is  the  Gospel  alone  that  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation,  to  every  one  that  believeth.  And  not  the 
Gospel  aj  a  social  cult,  or  an  ethical  value,  or  civic  re- 
form, but  the  Gospel  as  a  salvation  from  sin  and  death, 
whose  centre  and  soul  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whose 
symbol  is  an  uplifted  cross,  whose  rectifications  go  to 
the  very  roots  of  character,  and  whose  issues  are  ever- 
lasting. And  this  points  straight  to  the  third  of  the 
three  things  that  go  far  to  settle  the  question  as  to 
what  the  man  of  God  is  to  talk  about. 

(c)  The  preacher's  aim :  It  is,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  the  GospeVs  aim — perfect  manhood  in  Christ 
Jesus.  He  is  to  search  for  and  find  his  man,  and  then 
build  him  up  in  Christ.  Not  all  truth  can  do  that. 
The  truth  of  science,  the  truth  of  art,  the  truth  of  any 
social  cult,  might  make  a  man  learned,  artistic,  a  para- 
gon of  polite  breeding,  but  it  could  not  take  his  sin 
away,  or  free  him,  by  so  much  as  one  guilty  stain, 
from  sin's  pollution,  or  loose  him  the  slightest  from 
sin's  power,  or  lessen,  by  one  day  or  hour,  his  sentence 
to  sin's  final  and  eternal  doom. 

The  divine  order  is  Preach  the  Word  !  Preach  the 
Word  !  The  subject-matter  of  all  true  gospel  min- 
istry is  Holy  Scripture  :  the  Word  of  God. 

II.  Mark  the  vast  variety  of  Holy  Scripture.  "  Is 
not  My  word  like  fire,  saith  Jehovah,  and  like  a  ham- 
mer that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces  ?  "  (Jer.  23  :  29). 
It  is  ''  sharper  than  a  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to 
the  dividing  of  soul  and  spirit  and  quick  to  discern 
the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart"  (Heb.  4 :  12). 
It  is  a  high  tower,  whereunto  we  may  continually  re- 
sort. It  is  a  shield  against  the  fiery  darts  of  the  ad- 
versary.    It  is  a  balm  in  Gilead,  kept  by  the  Good 


48  The  Ideal  Ministry 

>^ 

Physician  for  sin-sick  souls.  It  is  God's  comfort  to  all 
that  mourn,  "  giving  a  garland  for  ashes,  the  oil  of 
joy  for  mourning,  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit 
of  heaviness  "  (Isa.  61 : 3).  What  want  is  there  it 
cannot  meet  ?  What  burden  is  there  it  cannot  lighten, 
or  help  to  bear,  or  take  away  ?  What  sin  is  there  for 
which  it  has  not  expiation  and  atonement?  What 
sorrow  is  there  it  cannot  heal?  How  its  doctrine  of 
God's  fatherhood  has  brought  the  wandering  prodigal 
back  to  the  Father's  house  !  How  its  doctrine  of  for- 
giveness has  hushed  feuds  !  How  its  uplifted  cross 
has  drawn  men  !  How  its  divine  dpyij  thundered  from 
the  pulpit,  has  arrested  some  persecuting  Saul,  breath- 
ing out  threatenings  and  slaughter  and  led  him  to  cry 
for  mercy  !  How  this  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is 
the  Word  of  God,  has  cut  clean  through  many  a 
Pharisaic  refuge  of  lies  and  shown  the  whited  sepul- 
chres to  be  full  of  dead  men's  bones  and  all  unclean- 
ness  !  There  is  not  a  kind  of  man,  or  a  state  of  heart, 
or  a  twist  of  conscience,  or  a  sophistry  of  reason,  or  a 
pride  of  intellect,  or  a  lust  of  the  flesh,  or  a  hell  of 
hate,  or  a  rottenness  of  social  condition  to  which  the 
subject-matter  of  Holy  Scripture  has  not  made  success- 
ful appeal. 

III.  Hence  the  folly  of  tampering  with  Holy 
Scripture.  If  this  is  the  varied,  diversified,  many- 
sided  subject-matter  of  Holy  Scripture,  placed  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  hand  of  every  minister  of 
the  Gospel — what  possible  justification  can  there  be 
for  the  mutilations,  the  twists,  the  perversions,  the 
accommodations  of  God's  Word,  and  even  the  substi- 
tutions for  that  Word,  that,  alas,  are  all  too  common 
in  pulpit  discourse !    There  has  thus  been  generated  a 


Its  Subject-Matter  49 

liberty  in  the  use  of  Holy  Scripture  that  has  degen- 
erated into  a  lawless  license. 

(a)  By  unduly  spiritualizing  Scripture.  From 
Jacob's  crossing  his  arms  over  two  of  Joseph's  chil- 
dren to  bless  them,  has  been  drawn  the  subject :  "  There 
is  no  blessing  but  under  the  cross."  Some  spiritualiz- 
ing is  justifiable ;  God's  Word  warrants  it.  Some 
temporalities  of  the  Old  Testament  are  typical  and 
prophetic  of  the  spiritualities  of  the  New  Testament. 
Jesus  Himself  spiritualized  ordinary  events :  *' Behold, 
a  sower  went  forth  to  sow."  To  go  as  far  as  the 
Scriptural  record  goes  is  well.  But  men  have  gone 
wildly  beyond  and  spiritualized  everything.  Origen 
was  wildly  extravagant  here ;  and  he  has  had  many 
imitators.  Even  Augustine  was  very  often  at  fault. 
He  is  represented  as  spiritualizing  the  bread,  the  fish, 
and  the  egg  which  Christ  supposes  a  child  to  ask  of  a 
father.  "  The  bread,"  gravely  says  Augustine,  "  is 
charity  ;  the  fish  is  faith,  which  lives  amidst  the  bil- 
lows of  temptation,  without  being  broken  or  dissolved  ; 
the  egg  is  hope,  because  though  the  egg  is  something, 
it  is  not  yet  the  chicken." 

But  we  need  not  go  to  the  fathers  for  this  absurd 
allegorizing.  Swedenborg  ran  riot  at  this  business. 
Fondness  for  novelty,  the  desire  to  appear  original, 
the  temptation  to  draw  spiritual  lessons  from  every- 
thing, have  conspired  to  perpetuate  this  attempt  to 
make  God's  Word  mean  what  it  does  not  mean. 

(h)  And  the  use  of  a  text  by  accommodation  is  an- 
other way  in  which  topics  have  found  an  unwarrantable 
place  in  the  ministry  of  the  Word.  Even  Dr.  George 
Campbell,  author  of  "  Sacred  Eloquence,"  took  a  lie 
of  the  devil — "  Ye  shall  be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and 


5©  The  Ideal  Ministry 

evil  "  — and  from  that  text  discussed  the  future  glory 
of  the  Christian.  The  appearance  of  Jesus  walking 
in  the  garden  at  the  break  of  day  on  Easter  morning 
has  been  used  as  a  basis  for  discussing  "  the  benefits 
of  rising  early  and  taking  a  walk  before  breakfast." 
And  in  my  own  knowledge,  the  words  so  full  of 
pathos  and  tears — "  And  when  He  drew  nigh  He  saw 
the  city  and  wept  over  it" — were  the  text  for  a  sermon 
on  "  the  relative  advantages  of  city  and  country  life." 
With  such  inexhaustible  riches  of  subject-matter  as 
are  in  the  Word  of  God,  what  possible  justification 
can  there  be  for  accredited  heralds  and  ambassadors 
of  Jesus  Christ  resorting  to  such  shifts  and  twists  of 
Holy  Scripture  to  get  an  up-to-date  message  for  the 
times !  Yinet  goes  not  one  whit  too  far  in  saying : 
"  No  human  book  has  in  this  way  been  so  tortured 
and  sported  with  as  Holy  Scripture."  Indeed,  such 
frivolities  of  imagination,  such  vain  conceits,  and 
freaks  of  foolish  fancy,  such  utterly  unwarranted 
liberties,  would  never  have  been  tolerated  in  connec- 
tion with  any  other  book.  Think  of  a  company  of 
lovers  of  Shakespeare  sitting  at  the  feet  of  a  lecturer 
announced  as  an  exponent  of  the  text  of  this  dramatic 
genius,  and  the  lecturer  taking  such  liberties  with  that 
text  as  ministers  are  known  to  take  with  the  text  of 
Holy  Scripture!  The  Shakespearean  exponent  would 
either  be  hooted  from  the  platform  or  be  left  to  talk 
to  vacant  seats.  Hear  the  weighty  words  of  Austin 
Phelps,  that  prince  of  rhetors,  who  gave  such  glory  to 
Andover :  "  One  abuse  invites  another ;  one  abuse 
justifies  another  ;  the  principle  of  a  slight  abuse  is  the 
principle  of  an  extreme  abuse."  ^    And  here  is  Burton's 

^  Phelps  !     ' '  Sacred  Khetoric, ' '  p.  109. 


Its  Subject-Matter  51 

wise  and  witty  word  on  textual  fidelity  :  "  How  far 
may  we  use  texts  and  passages  rhetorically  rather  than 
exegetically  ?  Does  the  Bible  like  to  be  dragged  in  to 
assist  oratory  in  that  way,  even  though  it  be  sacred 
oratory  ?  Is  it  sacred  oratory,  with  these  devices 
scattered  along  through  it  ?  And  when  you  come  to 
preach  from  a  text,  may  that  text  be  made  to  do  a 
duty  it  never  thought  of  till  you  got  hold  of  it,  and 
had  a  present  and  particular  good  you  wanted  to  ac- 
complish by  its  teaching?  Of  course  anybody  can 
see  that  we  must  not  stand  up  and  squarely  say, 
*  Dearly  beloved,  this  text  teaches  so  and  so,'  when  it 
does  not.  We  may  say  :  *  It  suggests  to  me  the  fol- 
lowing twelve  heads,'  and  then  go  on  to  make  our 
whole  discourse  on  those  twelve  heads.  There  is  no 
lying  in  that ;  but  how  must  that  text  feel  all  this 
while?  Doubtless,  it  is  flattered  that  an  educated  and 
cultivated  and  religious  man  is  so  crammed  with  sug- 
gestions by  its  humble  self.  At  the  same  time,  must 
not  that  text  be  mournfully  remarking  in  its  own  mind, 
now  and  then  :  *  But  I  have  a  meaning  of  my  own  (so 
I  always  supposed)  a  God's  meaning  ;  and  on  the  whole 
I  should  be  pleased  if  you  would  make  a  thirteenth 
head  on  that,  and  let  me  serve  to  that  extent,  as  my 
original  self  ;  and  not  as  a  mere  suggestor.'  "  ^ 

lY.     From  these  premises  four  things  follow. 

(a)  What  the  text  which  is  placed  at  the  head  of 
a  sermon  should  be.  Never  a  jpretext — but  a  true 
word  of  Scripture,  the  surface  of  which  is  to  be 
pierced,  the  secrets  of  which  are  to  be  unlocked,  the 
thoughts  of  which  are  to  be  unfolded,  and  the  lessons 
of  which  are  to  be  practically  applied. 

*  Burton  :  *' Yale  Lectures,"  p.  339. 


52  The  Ideal  Ministry 

(5)  What  this  fidelity  to  the  text  will  secure :  Fi- 
delity to  the  text  will  secure  the  greatest  variety  in 
preaching,  the  best  exegesis,  the  most  Scriptural  in- 
struction, the  best  honour  to  the  Spirit,  and,  hence 
(the  conditions  being  in  all  respects  the  same),  the 
most  success  in  winning  and  building  souls. 

(c)  What  selecting  and  announcing  a  text  is  doing  : 
Here  are  some  of  the  things  it  is  doing.  It  is  virtually 
saying  to  the  people,  "  This  is  the  Word  of  God  I  bring 
you  to-day."  It  is  interpreting  God's  providential  deal- 
ings with  His  people  week  by  week.  It  is  determin- 
ing the  leadings  of  God's  Spirit  Sabbath  by  Sabbath. 
It  is  choosing  the  spiritual  food  best  fitted  to  meet  the 
present  actual  spiritual  need  of  the  flock  of  God.  It 
is  selecting  the  remedy  most  perfectly  adapted  to  the 
changing  symptoms  of  the  diseased  and  sin-sick  souls 
committed  to  his  charge. 

{d)  What  the  preacher  needs  in  determining  this 
varied  Sabbath  ministry  ;  He  needs  care  and  prayer 
at  this  initial  point  in  the  work  of  the  week.  He  needs 
familiarity  with  Holy  Scripture.  He  needs  knowledge 
of  the  people  to  whom  he  ministers,  and  sympathy 
with  them.  He  needs  a  spirit  quick  to  catch  every 
breath  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  to  take  instant  note 
of  the  wise  and  gracious  direction  of  that  Spirit.  To 
choose  texts  wisely  one  must  walk  with  God. 


V 


THE  IDEAL  MINISTRY— ITS  PEEEMI:N^ENT 
BUSINESS  :     PREACHING  CHRIST 


SYLLABUS 

Introductory. — The  Jews  and  the  Greeks  of  Paul's  day  were  types 
of  two  permanent  classes,  showing  two  distinct  tendencies,  to  be  met 
now  as  then,  not  by  signs  nor  by  wisdom,  but  by  preaching  Christ. 

1.  Our   times   in   special  need    of    a   clear   understanding  of  the 

meaning  of  the  phrase,  "  Preaching  Christ." 

(a)     Christianity  has  so  won  its  way  that  men  are  wearing 

its  name  without  possessing  its  essential  spirit. 
(6)     Another  spirit  of  the  times  voices  itself  in  the  cry, 

"Back  to  Christ."     Give  us  less  doctrine  and  more 

Christ — less  Paul  and  more  Jesus. 

2.  To  preach  Christ  according  to  the  Scriptures  is  to  preach  Him 

as  God  and  man,  perfect  in  both  natures,  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  the  supreme  gift  of  divine  love  and  the  power  unto  salva- 
tion from  sin  and  endless  death,  by  atoniiig,  expiatory  sacri- 
fice, through  faith. 

{a)     Before  all  else,  in  preaching  Christ,  there  must  be  a 
true  conception  of  the  person  of  Christ. 

He   is   a  man — a  perfect  man,  knowing  no  sin. 

And  He  is  God  as  well  as  man — God  manifest 

in  the  flesh. 

(6)     What  brought  Him  here  ?     Two  things  :  a  great  love 

and  a  great  purpose.     He  is  therefore  to  be  preached 

as  the  supreme  gift  of  divine  love  and  the  power 

unto  salvation.  -  C  ^  ^  •  /  ^, 

(c)  But  salvation    from   what?      From   sin   and  endless 

death.     This  must  be  preached  if  Christ  is  preached. 

(d)  And   to   save  how?      By   atoning,  expiatory   sacrifice. 

Salvation  is  by  this  road  and  by  no  other.  Preach- 
ing a  divine  incarnation,  for  divine  instruction  and 
example  and  sympathy,  if  it  stop  there,  is  not 
apostolic  preaching. 

(e)  And  to  save  through  what  instrumentality  ?    Through 

faith  alone. 


THE  IDEAL  MINISTEY— ITS  PEEEMINENT 
BUSINESS  :     PEEACHING  CHEIST 

WE  have  seen  that  an  ideal  gospel  ministry 
must  have  for  its  subject-matter,  "  all 
Scripture."  But  while  "  every  Scripture 
inspired  of  God  is  profitable  for  teaching,  for  reproof, 
for  correction,  for  instruction  which  is  in  righteous- 
ness "  (2  Tim.  3  :  16),  is  not  some  Scripture  so  funda- 
mental to  faith,  so  vital  to  spiritual  life,  as  to  demand 
first  and  chief  place  in  any  true  gospel  ministry  ?  The 
inspired  record  of  the  early  Christian  Church  gives  us 
complete  answer  to  this  question.  That  record  bulks 
large  with  one  thing — 2)reaching  Christ.  "  Every  day 
in  the  temple  and  at  home,  they  ceased  not  to  preach 
Jesus  the  Christ  "  (Acts  5  :  42).  Philip  went  down  to 
a  city  of  Samaria  and  preached  Christ  (Acts  8 :  5), 
Saul  was  scarcely  a  convert  when  straightway  he 
preached  Jesus,  that  He  is  the  Son  of  God  (Acts  9  :  20). 
'^  We  preach  Christ  crucified,"  Paul  said  to  the  Church 
at  Corinth, — "  Christ  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom 
of  God  "  (1  Cor.  1  :  23,  24).  And  as  if  that  were  not 
enough  he  added,  "  I  determined  not  to  know  anything 
among  you  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified " 
(1  Cor.  2  :  2). 

Clearly  those  early  preachers  made  it  their  pre- 
eminent business  to  preach  Christ.  And  the  business 
of  their  day,  is  the  business  of  our  day.  The  times 
have  changed,  but  the  desperate  needs  of  dying  men 

55 


j;6  The  Ideal  Ministry- 

have  not  changed.  The  blessed  truths  of  the  Gospel 
of  the  Son  of  God  have  not  changed.  The  Jews  and 
the  Greeks  of  Paul's  day  were  types  of  permanent 
classes  of  men.  They  showed  two  distinct  tendencies 
which  have  had  manifestation  ever  since,  leading  to  a 
false,  one-sided  materialism,  and  a  false,  one-sided 
rationalism.  They  are  present  to-day — active,  bold, 
aggressive  in  their  demands.  And  to-day,  as  in  apos- 
tolic times,  these  two  tendencies  are  to  be  met,  not  by 
signs  nor  by  wisdom,  but  by  preaching  Christ. 

1.  Our  times  in  special  need  of  a  clear  understand- 
ing of  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  "  preaching  Christ." 

{a)  Christianity  has  so  fought  and  won  its  way  to 
the  world's  recognition,  that  men  are  wearing  its 
name  without  possessing  its  essential  spirit.  There  is 
abroad  an  unmistakable  desire  on  the  part  of  men  to 
be  counted  as  Christians.  They  hotly  resent  the 
charge  of  "  infidelity  "  ;  and  the  answering  charge  of 
"  bigotry  "  rings  through  the  air.  Thomas  Buckle, 
fterbert  Spencer,  and  lesser  lights,  with  similar  tend- 
encies, have  been  classed  as  in  the  Christian  ranks  of 
our  age.  Men  who  look  upon  the  Bible  as  they  look 
upon  Plato's  Phaedo  or  the  Koran  of  Mohammed,  do 
not  hesitate  to  call  themselves  Christians.  Men  who 
boast  of  being  members  of  no  sect  nevertheless  claim 
to  be  Christians.  We  hear  those  who  are  fond  of  de- 
claring their  faith  in  the  absolute  religion,  indulging 
in  a  style  of  negation  concerning  definite  religious 
truth  that  leaves  no  ground  to  stand  on.  They  do  not 
worship  the  Bible  nor  yet  Christ,  they  say.  They  do 
not  go  to  church.  What  of  that !  The  great  thing  is 
to  be  a  Christian.  We  have  an  absolute  Christianity, 
a  broad  church  Christianitj'',  a  liberal  Christianity,  a 


Its  Preeminent  Business  57 

Christianity  not  willing  to  assert  that  Christianity  is 
the  only  true  religion  !  Yerily  we  need  to  reproduce 
and  bring  out  boldly  the  sharp  outlines  of  the  old 
faith.  Can  a  man  believe  anything,  and  yet  preach 
Christ  ? 

Still  another  spirit  of  the  times  voices  itself  in  the 
cry,  "  Back  to  Christ !  "  "  Give  us  less  doctrine  and 
more  life  ;  less  Paul  and  more  Jesus  !  "  Surely,  there 
is  imperative  need  that  we  understand  what  it  is  to 
preach  Christ.  If  an  ideal  ministry  is  to  follow  apos- 
tolic example  and  not  know  anything  among  men 
save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified,  these  vague 
notions  and  this  hazy  iadefiniteness  as  to  what  this 
phrase,  "  preaching  Christ"  means,  must  give  w^ay  to 
exactness  of  thought  and  precision  of  speech.  Let  us 
grasp  its  scope,  its  true  significance,  its  vital  facts  and 
truths.  Let  us  weigh  our  words  as  those  who  are 
buying  the  truth.  The  very  innermost  substance  and 
soul  of  the  preacher's  message  are  here. 

2.  To  preach  Christ  according  to  the  Scriptures  is  to 
preach  Him  as  God  and  man^  ])erfect  in  hoth  natures^ 
God  manifest  in  the  fleshy  the  supreme  gift  of  divine 
love^  and  the  power  unto  salvation  from,  sin  and  endless 
death^  hy  atoning^  expiatory  sacrifice,  through  faith. 

(a)  Before  all  else  there  must  be  a  true  conception 
and  presentation  of  the  person  of  Christ,  if  He  is  to 
be  Scripturally  preached. 

He  is  in  the  Christian  system,  and  the  soul  of  it,  as 
no  personality  ever  was  in  a  cause.  "  I  am  the  Way  ;  " 
"I  am  the  Truth;"  "I  am  the  Life ;  "  "  I  am'the 
Door  ;  "  "  I  am  the  Light  of  the  world  ;  "  "  I  am  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life."  "  Come  to  Me."  "  Be- 
lieve in  Me."     "  Follow  Me."     "  No  man  cometh  to 


58  The  Ideal  Ministry 

the  Father  but  by  Me."  It  were  easier  to  untwist  all 
the  beams  of  light  and  to  get  at  and  expunge  one  of 
the  colours  fixed  there  of  God,  than  to  get  the  person 
of  Christ  out  of  the  Gospel. 

But  what  kind  of  a  person  is  He  who  is  so  insepa- 
rably connected  with  this  Gospel  that  if  you  take  Him 
out  you  take  its  heart  out  ? 

He  is  a  man — a  tempted,  tried,  suffering  man, 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  human  infirmity  ;  a  real 
man  of  body,  soul  and  spirit,  of  flesh  and  blood. 
Otherwise,  He  could  not  die,  and  so  meet  and  conquer 
death.  "  Since  the  children  are  sharers  in  flesh  and 
blood.  He  also  Himself  in  like  manner  partook  of  the 
same  "  (Heb.  2  :  14). 

He  is  a  perfect  man.  If  there  is  human  flaw  in  the 
Man  of  Nazareth,  He  is  just  like  other  men,  and  the 
whole  scheme  fails.  If  He  ever  sinned,  He  needs  a 
Saviour,  and  cannot  be  the  sinner's  Saviour.  He 
claims  for  Himself  freedom  from  sin:  "  I  do  always 
those  things  that  are  pleasing  to  the  Father  "  (John 
8  :  29).  "  The  prince  of  the  world  cometh  and  hath 
nothing  in  Me  "  (John  14 :  30).  He  is  tempted,  but 
never  yields  to  temptation.  He  bids  men  repent,  but 
He  never  repents.  He  is  the  Lamb  without  blemish — 
the  Just  One,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sinners. 

But  He  is  God  as  well  as  man  :  God  manifest  in 
the  flesh — a  divine  incarnation.  He  claims  equality 
with  the  Father.  He  asks  men  to  trust  Him  as  they 
trust  God ;  to  honour  Him  as  they  honour  God.  He 
does  not  invite  discipleship  ;  He  commands  it.  He 
lays  His  hand  upon  all  the  dearest  and  most  treasured 
loves  of  the  human  heart,  and  demands  a  superior 
love,  saying :     "  He  that  loveth  father  or  mother  more 


Its  Preeminent  Business  59 

than  Me  is  not  worthy  of  Me."  He  claims  divine  pre- 
rogatives. He  accepts  without  rebuke  the  glowing 
confession  of  Thomas,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God." 

Clearly  he  who  preaches  the  Scriptural  historic 
Christ  must  preach  Him  as  a  divine-human  person- 
ality— God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 

(h)  But  what  was  behind  this  strangely  constituted 
personality  ?  What  led  to  this  marvel  of  marvels — God 
manifest  in  the  flesh  ?  Two  things — a  motive  and  a 
purpose.  The  motive  was  love  ^'  the  purpose  was  sal- 
vation. The  love  was  for  a  lost  world ;  the  salvation 
is  from  sin  and  death. 

Here  then  are  two  things  more  that  must  be 
preached,  if  Christ  is  preached. 

First,  He  must  be  preached  as  the  supreme  gift  of 
divine  love  for  a  lost  world.  The  sufficient  and 
blessed  warrant  for  this  is  that  deep  word  of  Scrip- 
ture :  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life  "  (John  3  :  16). 
"Jesus  Christ  tasted  death  for  every  man."  "We  can- 
not preach  Christ  according  to  the  Scriptures  without 
preaching  Christ's  "  whosoever  "  invitation.  We  can- 
not preach  Christ  according  to  the  Scriptures  without 
preaching  the  love  of  God  as  sufficient  for,  as  adapted 
to,  and  as  taking  every  legal  obstacle  out  of  the  way 
of,  every  sinner  of  all  the  w^orld,  and  as  on  these 
grounds  to  be  freely  offered  to  every  sinner  of  all  the 
world.  If  Christ  is  preached,  this  love  of  God  will 
have  no  limitation  of  race  or  caste  or  colour. 

But  a  second  thing  must  be  preached,  if  Christ  is 
preached.  Christ  must  be  set  forth  as  the  power  unto 
salvation  from  sin  and  endless  death. 


6o  The  Ideal  Ministry 

> 

If  love  was  the  motive  of  the  marvellous  manifesta- 
tion— God  manifest  in  the  flesh — the  purpose  was  sal- 
vation. The  angel  said  to  Joseph  concerning  the  child 
that  was  to  be  born  of  Mary,  "  Thou  shalt  call  His 
name  Jesus,  for  He  shall  save  His  people  from  their 
sins."  He  was  given  to  the  world  "  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  Him  might  not  perish."  His  own  great, 
solemn,  assuring,  authoritative  word  is :  "I  know 
Mine  own  and  Mine  own  know  Me,  and  I  give  unto 
them  eternal  life,  and  they  shall  never  perish."  Jesus 
Christ  is  a  Saviour. 

He  did  not  come,  therefore,  simply  or  mainly,  with 
a  system  of  education  or  of  reformation,  but  with  a 
system  of  salvation.  The  gospel  system  of  ethics  is 
transcendently  above  any  other  ethical  system,  and  to 
those  who  are  in  Christ  it  is  an  ideal  rule  of  life.  If, 
however,  the  Gospel  is  simply  a  scheme  of  morals  to 
correct  men's  conduct  then  the  divine  incarnation  was 
superfluous.  But  the  Gospel  is  infinitely  more  than  a 
code  of  ethics.  It  is  a  supernatural,  rescuing  force, 
not  of  the  world  nor  of  the  ruin  in  the  world  ;  but  a 
power  from  without,  from  above.  It  is  God  moving 
in  the  midst  of  the  ruin,  come  in  the  person  of  Christ 
to  seek  and  save.  And  to  save,  not  from  misfortune 
so  much,  not  from  trouble,  not  from  ignorance,  not 
from  sorrow,  but  from  sin,  the  fountain  and  source  of 
all  these  ills  ;  and  from  endless  death  as  the  penalty  of 
sin.  Sorrow  is  the  badge  of  all  the  race,  and  Chris- 
tians must  wear  it,  like  all  the  rest.  But  the  Gospel 
sanctifies  sorrow,  gives  the  conquering  spirit  in 
sorrow,  and  makes  joys  flash  from  the  very  swing 
of  it. 

To  preach  Christ,  therefore,  is  to  preach  Him  as  a 


Its  Preeminent  Business  6l 

Saviour  from  sin — God  manifest  in  the  flesh  is  the 
power  unto  salvation  from  sin  and  endless  death. 

But  to  save  how  ?  After  what  manner  ?  Through 
what  instrumental  agency  ?  On  what  ground  ? 
Where  does  the  gospel  record  put  the  power  of  Christ 
to  save?  The  answer  is  clear  and  unmistakable. 
Holy  Scripture  does  not  leave  this  vital  matter  in  even 
the  least  shadow  of  doubt. 

Christ  is  a  Saviour  from  sin  and  death  through  His 
atoning^  expiatory  sacrifice.  It  is  Christ  as  crucified 
that  must  be  preached  if  He  is  to  be  preached  accord- 
ing to  the  Scriptures.  The  salvation  is  a  salvation 
through  suffering.  The  redemption  is  a  redemption 
by  blood. 

Preaching  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  as  a  divine 
teacher,  with  divine  credentials,  come  to  teach  divine 
truth  and  to  exhibit  divine  life  :  preaching  that  satisfies 
itself  with  presenting  the  divine  assumption  of  human- 
ity, for  divine  instruction  and  divine  guidance  and 
divine  example  and  divine  sympathy,  if  it  stop  there, 
is  not  apostolic  preaching. 

Eloquent  laudation  of  the  character  and  life  of 
Christ  will  not  suffice.  The  added  recognition  of  Him 
as  a  divine  incarnation,  leaves  still  a  mutilated  Gospel. 
Even  the  presentation  of  His  death,  as  the  sacrifice  of 
love  in  innocence,  and  as  an  expression  of  suffering 
sympathy,  is  not  enough.  The  "  moral  "  theory  of  the 
atonement  is  a  truth  of  the  atonement,  but  not  the 
whole  truth.  There  must  be  recognition  of  Christ's 
death  as  an  expiation  for  sin. 

So,  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross  is  not  merely  suffering 
in  behalf  of  others.  Many  a  mother  has  suffered  even 
unto  death,  in  behalf  of  her  wayward,  sinning  child. 


62  The  Ideal  Ministry- 

Many  a  father  has  broken  his  heart  over  the  cry, 
"  Where  is  my  wandering  boy,  to-night  ?  "  But  no 
amount  of  a  father's  suffering  or  a  mother's  sorrow 
has  ever  taken  away  a  child's  sin.  This  is  the  differ- 
ence between  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  and  all  other  sacri- 
fice— and  the  difference  is  immense.  Between  the  two 
a  great  gulf  is  fixed. 

Just  one  thing  more  is  involved  in  this  preeminent 
business  of  preaching  Christ ;  namely,  that  He  be 
preached  as  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  only  and 
solely  "  through  faith.''''  He  that  helieveth  shall  be 
saved.  The  justifying  righteousness  of  the  Son  of  God 
must  be  so  presented  that  it  shall  be  apprehended  by 
faith^  as  the  first  act  of  the  sinner,  antecedent  to 
penitence  and  love.  No  right  feelings  can  have  birth 
in  a  sinner's  heart,  save  as  they  are  awakened  by  ap- 
propriate objects.  A  crucified  Christ  alone  can  waken 
penitence  for  sin  and  love  for  the  Saviour.  Faith  alone 
can  accept  Christ  as  crucified — looking  believingly  to 
Him  as  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world.  Faith  is  the  root  of  love.  We  cannot 
love  aright  where  we  do  not  trust.  And  penitence  is 
the  tear  in  the  eye  of  faith. 

Christ  must  therefore  be  so  preached  that  YLh  justi- 
fying righteousness  shall  be  offered  to  faith  and  ac- 
cepted by  faith — not  offered  to  penitence  ;  not  to  love. 
If  the  sinner  wait  for  penitence  and  love  he  will  wait 
in  vain.  Faith  is  the  hand  of  the  heart  that  reaches 
out  and  takes.  Free  justification  without  any  antece- 
dent whatever,  save  its  acceptance  by  faith — this  is  the 
vital  necessity  in  preaching  Christ.  He  that  helieveth 
shall  be  saved.  Trust  is  the  entrance-gate  to  eternal 
life.     [N'ot   prayers,  nor   tears,  nor  works;  not  self- 


Its  Preeminent  Business  63 

denials ;  not  walking  miles  on  a  Malabar  coast  with 
spikes  in  one's  slioes,  nor  swinging  with  hooks  in  one's 
living  flesh  as  the  pagan  heathen  do ;  not  giving  up 
outward  flagrant  sins  and  going  to  church  and  contrib- 
uting to  good  causes,  as  the  Christian  heathen  do. 

"Just  as  I  am  without  one  plea, 
But  that  Thy  blood  was  shed  for  me, 
And  that  Thou  bidst  me  come  to  Thee, 
O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come." 

This  is  "  the  way  "  that  must  be  preached,  if  Christ 
is  preached. 

Let  us  again  hear  the  sum  of  the  whole  matter : 
The  preeminent  business  of  an  ideal  ministry  is  preach- 
ing Christ  as  God  and  man,  perfect  in  both  natures, 
God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  the  supreme  gift  of  divine 
love,  and  the  power  unto  salvation  from  sin  and  end- 
less death,  by  atoning,  expiatory  sacrifice,  through 
faith. 

If  less  than  this,  it  is  not  in  entire  and  absolute 
fidelity  to  Jesus  Christ.  If  less  than  this,  the  truth 
may  have  been  preached,  but  not  the  whole  truth. 

But  is  there  not  something  that  holds  supreme  place 
in  this  preeminent  business  of  preaching  Christ  ?  Is 
there  not  a  central  theme  so  vital,  so  profound,  so  far- 
reaching,  so  transcendently  important,  as  to  have  no 
rival  in  the  claims  it  makes  for  conspicuity,  emphasis, 
and  indispensableness  in  God's  plan  of  salvation  for 
lost  men  ?     We  must  find  our  answer  in  Holy  Scripture. 


VI 


THE  IDEAL  MmiSTRY— ITS  CENTRAL 
THEME  :  CHRIST  CRUCIFIED 


SYLLABUS  • 

1 .  In  the  preeminent  business  of  preaching  Christ  there  is  a  central 

theme,  so  vital   and  far-reaching  as  to  have  no  rival  in  the 
claims  it  makes  for  conspicuity  and  emphasis  in  God's  plan  of 
salvation.     That  theme  is  Christ  crucified. 
Throughout  both  the  Old  and   New  Testaments  runs  a 
crimson  thread. 

( a)  The  first  word  of  Messianic  prophecy  points  to  a  suf- 
fering Redeemer,  and  the  first  word  of  the  New 
Testament  is  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God."  And 
the  song  of  the  ransomed  heavenly  host  is,  ' '  Re- 
deemed by  blood." 
(6)  The  incarnation  was  in  order  to  crucifixion, 
(c)     The  resurrection  points  back  to  the  crucifixion.    Christ 

could  not  stay  in  the  tomb  and  be  a  Saviour. 
{d)    The  ascension  is  another  witness.     Christ  must  not 
die  again,  if  He  would  prove  Himself  Lord  of  life 
and  death, 
(e)     His  ceaseless  intercession  has  its  sole  warrant  in  His 
crucifixion. 

2.  By  this  sign  the  Church  has  conquered.     Not  by  an  ethical 

Christ,  or  a  sociological  Christ,  or  a  civic-righteousness  Christ, 
but  by  a  crucified  Christ. 

(a)     It   was  this   the   early   Christians  lifted  aloft  after 

their  Lord  ascended  to  glory. 
(&)     It  was  this  that  made  the  Reformation  host  invincible, 
(c)     It  has  been  this  that  has  studded  history  with  the 
mighty  triumphs  of  redemption. 

3.  This  is  not  only  the  indispensable  condition  of  an  ideal  gospel 

ministry  :  it  is  the  crucial  test  of  any  gospel  ministry. 


VI 

THE  IDEAL  MINISTKY— ITS  CENTRAL  THEME: 
CHEIST  CEUCIFIED 

A  CAREFUL  reading  of  the  Scripture  makes  it 
clear  that  there  is  a  central  theme,  holding 
unrivalled  place  in  the  Word  of  God,  and  that 
this  central  theme  is  Christ  crucified.  It  is  upon  this 
truth  and  fact  that  Holy  Scripture  puts  the  emphasis 
with  singular  and  marvellous  iteration.  Prophet, 
apostle,  and  Jesus  Himself  point  to  the  sacrifice  as  the 
central  fact  in  the  redemption  scheme. 

(a)  The  bloody  sacrifices  of  the  Jewish  ritual  were 
types  and  symbols  of  what  should  be  at  the  end  of  the 
ages,  when  Christ  should  be  manifested  to  put  away 
sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself  (Heb.  9  :  26).  Isaiah 
tells  us  with  pathos  and  tears  of  a  coming  Messiah  as 
"  a  man  of  sorrows,"  "  despised  and  rejected  of  men  "  : 
that  it  ''  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  Him,"  to  "  make 
His  soul  an  offering  for  sin,"  to  "  wound  Him  for  our 
transgressions,"  and  "  bruise  Him  for  our  iniquities." 

And  this  crimson  thread  that  stretches  through  the 
Old  Testament  colours  all  the  warp  and  woof  of  the 
New  Testament. 

(b)  The  first  thing  we  hear  from  the  lips  of  John 
the  Baptist  as  he  sees  Jesus  is  this :  "  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world."  Paul  tells  us  God  set  forth  Christ  Jesus  to 
be  a  propitiation  "  by  His  blood  " ;  and  that  we  are 

67 


68  The  Ideal  Ministry 

"  justified "  *'  by  His  blood,"  and  have  "  redemp- 
tion through  His  blood."  Peter  assures  us  we  are 
"  redeemed  with  precious  blood,  even  the  blood  of 
Christ."  John  speaks  of  the  blood  of  Christ  as  cleans- 
ing us  "  from  all  sin."  And  what  is  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per but  a  sacrament  wherein,  as  we  eat  the  bread  and 
drink  the  cup,  we  do  "  show  the  Lord's  death  till  He 
come."  Listen  to  Jesus  Himself :  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted 
up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me."  And  the  inspired 
writer  adds  :  "  This  He  said  signifying  by  what  death 
He  should  die."  From  Christ's  own  lips  therefore  we 
have  the  distinct  avowal  that  it  was  by  His  death — 
not  by  His  incarnation,  nor  by  His  doctrine,  nor 
by  His  miraculous  deeds,  but  by  His  death — that  He 
was  to  have  His  redemptive  power,  and  draw  men  to 
Him. 

Look  now  into  heaven  with  the  vision  of  John  of 
Patmos :  "  Who  are  these  with  white  robes,  and 
palms  ?  These  are  they  which  came  out  of  great 
tribulation,  and  have  washed  their  robes  and  made 
them  white  in  the  hlood  of  the  Lamb  !  " 

Catch  the  notes  of  the  new  song  sounded  out  in 
heaven's  hallelujahs :  "  Worthy  art  Thou,  O  Lamb  of 
God,  to  receive  blessing  and  power  and  glory  and 
honour,  for  Thou  wast  slain,  and  didst  purchase  unto 
God  with  Thy  blood  men  of  every  tribe  and  tongue 
and  people  and  nation." 

Go  search  the  Scriptures,  or  God's  book  of  Provi- 
dence, or  heaven  itself  for  any  other  note  of  redemp- 
tion, and  you  will  not  find  it.  Whom  did  the  apostles 
constantly  preach  ?  Christ  incarnate  ?  Christ  the 
great  teacher  ?  Christ  the  moralist  ?  ]^ay,  verily. 
Paul  says,  "  We  preach  Christ  crucified."    And  he 


Its  Central  Theme  69 

came  to  the  Church  at  Corinth  "  determined  not  to 
know  anything  else."  To  the  materialistic  Jews  this 
was  a  "  stumbling  block."  To  the  rationalistic  Greeks 
it  was  "foolishness."  They  did  not  like  it.  And  the 
materialists  and  the  rationalists  do  not  like  it  now. 
But  to  the  saved  then,  and  to  the  saved  now,  Christ 
crucilied  is  the  "  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of 
God."  "  Far  be  it  from  me  to  glory,"  is  Paul's 
triumphant  word,  "  far  be  it  from  me  to  glory,  save  in 
the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

The  cross,  the  blood,  the  death,  the  propitiation,  the 
sacrifice,  the  crucifixion — surely,  it  is  upon  this  the 
Word  of  God  throws  the  tremendous  emphasis. 
Everywhere  in  these  Scriptures  the  cross  is  lifted  up  ; 
every  page  is  splashed  with  the  blood.  Look  where 
we  may,  we  find  a  sign-board  pointing  to  Calvary  and 
the  crucifixion.  The  four  great  facts  in  the  gospel 
record — the  Incarnation,  the  Resurrection,  the  Ascen- 
sion and  the  Intercession  of  Jesus  Christ — that  form 
what  may  well  be  called  the  gospel  quadrangle,  have 
as  their  centre  an  uplifted  cross.  They  face  that  cross, 
point  to  that  cross,  have  no  worth  and  no  significance 
apart  from  that  cross.  Take  John's  deep  saying  that 
tells  us  of  the  incarnation :  "  In  the  beginning  was 
the  Word  .  .  .*  and  the  Word  was  God  .  .  . 
and  the  Word  was  made  flesh."  Why  this  marvellous 
birth  ?  We  are  expressly  told  why.  "  Since  the  chil- 
dren are  sharers  in  flesh  and  blood  He  also  (Christ) 
Himself  in  like  manner  partook  of  the  same,  that 
through  death  He  might  bring  to  nought  him  that  had 
the  power  of  death,  that  is  the  devil,  and  might  deliver 
all  them  who  through  fear  of  death  were  all  their  life- 
time subject  to  bondage  "  (Heb.  2  :  14, 15).     In  other 


yo  The  Ideal  Ministry 

words  He  was  born  that  He  might  die.  Incarnation 
was  in  order  to  crucifixion. 

Men,  it  is  true,  are  saying  differently.  They  are 
making  the  incarnation  and  the  life  chief,  and  the 
death  incidental.  They  are  magnifying  the  incarna- 
tion and  minimizing  the  crucifixion. 

Well,  let  us  not  abate  the  exceeding  great  glory  of 
God  incarnate — God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  It  is  the 
wonder  of  the  ages — an  integral,  essential  part  of  the 
divine  and  wondrous  plan  of  redemption.  It  was  a 
stupendous  act  of  divine  condescension  for  God  to 
send  "  His  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,"  as 
the  apostle  puts  it,  but  the  condescension  and  humil- 
iation are  seen  to  go  deeper  far,  when  the  apostle 
adds  that  God  sent  His  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sin- 
ful flesh  as  "  an  offeringfor  sin!'''  This  was  the  end, 
of  which  the  manifestation  in  the  flesh  was  the  means. 
In  other  words,  Christ  partook  of  flesh  and  blood  that 
He  might  die,  and,  through  death,  bring  the  devil  to 
nought,  and  deliver  the  sinner. 

There  were  other  ends  of  the  incarnation,  beyond  a 
doubt.  It  hallows  childhood.  It  tells  mothers  to 
give  over  anxious  thought  about  their  dead  babes. 
Christ  was  a  babe.  Can  He  ever  forget  a  mother's 
love  and  kiss  ?  Did  He  not  say,  "  Of  such  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  "  ?  The  incarnation  also  hallows  la- 
bour. "  The  son  of  a  carpenter !  "  What  a  world  of 
significance  there  is  in  that  phrase  I  How  impossible 
that  true  Christianity  should  have  no  sympathy  for 
the  men  that  toil.  The  incarnation  also  gives  ''  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ."  It  shows  us  a  great  High  Priest,  "  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities."    But  all  these  ends 


Its  Central  Theme 


71 


are  secondary  and  subordinate.  The  chief,  conspicuous, 
transcendent  purpose  of  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  was 
that  through  death  redemption  might  come.  "  It  be- 
hooved Him  in  all  things  to  be  made  like  unto  His 
brethren,  ...  to  make  propitiation  for  the  sins 
of  the  people." 

{6)  The  resurrection  of  Christ  is  another  sign-board 
pointing  to  Christ  crucified.  As  the  incarnation  looked 
forward  to  the  crucifixion,  so  the  resurrection  looks 
backward  to  the  crucifixion.  Paul  says,  "  It  is  Christ 
Jesus  that  died  ;  yea,  rather,  that  was  raised  from  the 
dead."  This  makes  it  seem  as  if  resurrection  must 
come  to  pass,  or  crucifixion  will  be  of  no  avail.  And 
now  that  Christ  has  died,  it  certainly  is  an  absolutely 
indispensable  thing  that  He  should  rise  again.  For, 
if  Christ  be  not  risen,  preaching  is  vain  and  faith  is 
vain,  and,  reverently  be  it  said,  the  cross  is  vain. 
Jesus  must  not  stay  in  the  toinb  !  The  sepulchre  must 
be  emptied  and  emptied  by  Himself,  in  His  own  in- 
herent power  as  Lord  of  life  and  death.  Let  us  see 
why. 

In  the  first  place,  Christ  had  committed  Himself. 
He  had  said,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life." 
He  had  said,  "  Destroy  this  temple  " — meaning  His 
body — '*  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up."  He 
had  also  said,  "  No  man  taketh  My  life  from  Me.  I 
have  power  to  lay  it  down  and  I  have  power  to  take 
it  again." 

But  there  He  is  on  the  cross,  in  the  hands  of  His 
enemies,  after  all  His  declarations  of  power.  They 
are  railing  and  jeering  at  Him.  They  are  saying, 
"  Let  us  see  if  no  man  can  take  the  life  of  this  im- 
postor and  blasphemer ! "     They  are   sneeringly  re- 


72  The  Ideal  Ministry 

minding  Him  of  what  He  had  said  :  "  Ha !  Thou 
that  destroyest  the  temple  and  buildest  it  in  three 
days,  save  Thyself  and  come  down  from  the  cross, 
that  we  may  see  and  believe."  He  Himself  cried  out, 
"  My  God !  My  God !  Why  hast  Thou  forsaken 
Me  ?  "  Some  other  cries  came  from  Him  :  "  Father, 
forgive  them ; "  "  Into  Thy  hands  I  commend  My 
spirit ;  "  "  It  is  finished."  And  He  was  dead.  His 
cause  seemed  lost.  If  ever  on  earth  there  was  ap- 
parently utter  failure,  it  was  there  at  Calvary.  They 
took  Him  from  the  cross,  dead.  Suppose  He  had  re- 
mained there,  dead ;  His  body  turning  to  corruption, 
and  nothing  more  heard  of  Him !  Who  would  have 
believed  that  He  was  Lord  of  life  and  death,  if  He 
had  died  and  turned  to  dust  in  the  tomb  like  all  the 
rest  of  us  ?  So  He  came  forth  from  the  grave  in  proof 
of  His  divine  mission.  He  was  "declared  to  be  the 
Son  of  God  with  power  by  His  resurrection  from  the 
dead  "  (Kom.  1  :  4).  The  risen  Christ  points  to  the 
crucified  Christ,  and  says  to  all  who  belong  to  Him : 
"  I  died  that  you  might  live ;  and,  behold,  I  live  that 
you  may  never  die." 

But  where  is  He  now,  this  once  born,  and  dead,  and 
risen  Saviour  ?  He  is  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  How 
did  He  get  there  ?  Did  He  die  again  and  go  by 
death's  road?  Never.  That  would  have  throvvn 
doubt  on  the  resurrection.  That  would  have  made 
the  crucifixion  an  ordinary  tragedy.  That  would  have 
left  the  incarnation  a  delusion  or  a  dream. 

{d)  Jesus  Christ  must  not  die  again.  And  He  did 
not.  This  is  the  way  He  went  back  to  His  Father's 
house :  One  day  "  He  led  His  disciples  out  until  they 
were  over  against  Bethany,  and  He  lifted  up  His  hands 


Its  Central  Theme  73 

and  blessed  them.  And  it  came  to  pass  while  He  blessed 
them  He  parted  from  them ;  a  cloud  received  Him 
out  of  their  sight."  He  was  taken  up  into  heaven ; 
and  He  "  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty 
on  high."  How  sweet  and  calm  and  simple  and 
beautiful.  Nothing  spectacular.  No  parade.  No 
gorgeous  display.  No  retinue  of  angels.  The  glory 
was  in  the  thing  itself.  It  befitted  the  Lord  of  life 
and  death.  He  had  once  been  down  in  the  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death  ;  He  had  entered  its  awful  gloom. 
And  having  died,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  and  made 
spoil  of  death  and  robbed  the  grave  of  victory,  He 
must  needs  go  home  this  conquering  way.  It  was  a 
way  of  power  and  victory.  It  hushed  the  jeers  and 
ribald  taunts  of  men  who  shouted  at  His  cross,  "  He 
saved  others  ;  Himself  He  cannot  save."  And  it  cast 
a  new  glory  on  the  crucifixion. 

Mark  the  immediate  effect  upon  His  disciples. 
When  Christ  died  they  were  disheartened.  They 
knew  not  what  to  do.  They  "  thought  it  had  been  He 
which  should  redeem  Israel."  And  He  was  dead. 
They  were  filled  with  sorrow.  Peter  got  back  at  his 
old  trade,  and  went  a  fishing. 

But  when  Christ  ascended  from  Olivet,  and  they 
saw  Him  no  more,  were  they  sad  and  troubled  ?  Did 
they  have  a  shadow  of  doubt  of  His  redeeming  power  ? 
That  ascension  illumined  the  cross.  It  pointed  to 
Calvary.  It  emphasized  the  crucifixion.  Christ, 
"  when  He  had  offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins  forever^ 
sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God  (Heb.  10  :  12). 

{e)  And  no  w  for  the  last  great  fact  in  the  redem pti ve 
scheme.  Christ's  intercession — which  way  does  that 
point?     The  writer  to  the  Hebrews  says  that  Christ 


74  The  Ideal  Ministry 

"  because  He  abideth  forever  hath  His  priesthood  un- 
changeable. Wherefore  also  He  is  able  to  save  to  the 
uttermost  them  that  draw  near  unto  God  through 
Him,  seeing  He  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
them  "  (Heb.  7  :  24,  25).  And  the  basis  for  this  per- 
petual intercession  is  the  crucifixion.  "  Once,  at  the 
end  of  the  ages,  hath  He  been  manifested  to  put  away 
sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself  "  (Heb.  9  :  26). 

This  is  the  ground  of  His  plea  before  God.  It  is  on 
the  basis  of  His  crucifixion  that  He  makes  His  interces- 
sion. "  They  are  Mine,"  is  the  word  of  His  heavenly 
advocacy.  ''I  bought  them  with  My  blood.  I  laid 
down  My  life  for  them.  I  went  into  the  blackness  of 
darkness  of  that  crucifixion  hour  that  I  might  save 
them  from  the  hour  and  power  of  darkness.  Thou 
didst  covenant  with  Me,  that  if  I  should  die  they 
might  live.  They  are  Mine  ;  and  all  things  that  are 
Mine  are  Thine,  and  Thine  are  Mine.  And  I  am  glo- 
rified in  them."  If  Christ  had  not  died,  and  so  pur- 
chased redemption  for  His  people,  He  would  have  no 
case  at  heaven's  court. 

And  so  it  is  :  Incarnation,  Eesurrection,  Ascension, 
and  Intercession^  all  point  to  crucifi^xion.  They  all 
join  with  John  the  Baptist  saying,  "  Behold  the  Lamb 
of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world." 

Surely,  surely,  the  central  theme  of  an  ideal  gospel 
ministry  is  Christ  crucified  ! 

2.  And  by  this  sign  the  Church  has  conquered : 
Not  by  an  ethical  Christ  or  a  sociological  Christ,  or  a 
civic-righteousness  Christ,  but  by  a  crucified  Christ. 
The  times  of  her  aggressive  spiritual  force,  when  she  has 
multiplied  her  victories  as  the  drops  of  the  morning, 
have  been  the  times  when  she  has  lifted  up  the  cross 


Its  Central  Theme  75 

and  preached  a  crucified  Saviour,  and  said  to  men — 
burdened,  troubled,  weary,  sin-sick — "Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God  I     Look  and  live  !     Believe  and  live  !  " 

(a)  It  was  so  with  those  early  Christians  who  saw 
their  Lord  pass  up  to  glory.  When  a  cloud  received 
Him  out  of  their  sight  they  "  returned  to  Jerusalem 
with  great  joy,"  the  Scripture  record  tells  us.  And 
from  Jerusalem  they  went  to  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
"  glorying  in  the  cross,"  preaching  "  Christ  crucified," 
who  had  entered  into  heaven  itself  now  and  forever 
to  appear  before  God  in  the  behalf  of  those  whom  He 
had  "  bought  with  a  price." 

Under  the  inspiration  of  this  blessed  belief  they  met 
mad  mobs,  they  faced  wild  beasts.  AVhen  their  bodies 
were  flung  into  the  flames,  they  said  to  the  quivering 
flesh,  "  Be  still,  O  flesh,  and  burn."  And  they  died 
with  the  prayer  on  their  lips,  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit."  They  went  everywhere  preaching  Christ 
crucified.  They  determined  not  to  know  anything 
else  among  men.  They  gloried  in  nothing  but  the 
cross  (Gal.  6  :  14). 

By  and  by,  alas,  the  symbol  of  that  cross  came  to 
be  substituted  for  the  reality  of  it ;  penance  took  the 
place  of  "  the  blood,"  the  "  crucified  one  "  was  hidden 
beneath  a  mass  of  forms  and  rites  and  fasts  and  cere- 
monial observances.  Jesus  was  crowded  out  by  Jesus' 
mother. 

(h)  Then  the  Protestant  Keformation  burst  upon  the 
world.  That  moral  and  spiritual  revolution  was  simply 
a  restoration  of  Christ  to  His  supreme  place  in  the  min- 
istry of  the  Word,  as  the  crucified  one.  The  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  alone  led  the  sinner  straight  to 
Calvary  ;  and  there,  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  he  looked 


76  The  Ideal  Ministry 

up  into  the  face  of  the  crucified  Christ  and  found  a 
Saviour.  And  again  the  Church  was  mighty  to  the 
pulling  down  of  Satan's  strongholds. 

(c)  So  it  has  ever  been.  Call  the  roll  of  the  men 
of  God  who  have  cut  wide  swaths,  who  have  been 
conspicuous  as  winners  and  builders  of  souls — 
Melanchthon,  Knox,  Luther,  Edwards,  Whitefield, 
Spurgeon,  Robertson,  Finney,  Maclaren,  Hall,  Moody 
and  a  multitude  more — and  see  whether  the  men 
who  have  preached  Christian  ethics  and  Christian 
socialism  and  Christian  civics,  and  made  these  and 
like  topics  central  in  their  ministry,  have  been  any 
match,  in  spiritual  power  and  spiritual  victories  for 
the  men  whose  central  theme  has  ever  and  con- 
spicuously been  Christ  crucified!  Did  a  Gospel 
of  Christian  socialism,  or  a  Gospel  of  Christian 
ethical  precepts,  or  a  Gospel  of  educational  culture 
ever  turn  any  community  upside  dovvn,  or  bring  any 
great  multitude  to  Christ,  or  make  any  church  a  har- 
vesting-place for  souls  ?  I^ever.  They  are  impotency 
itself,  in  the  presence  of  the  god  of  this  world  ruling 
in  an  unregenerate  heart.  Are  then  a  sociological 
Christ  and  an  ethical  Christ  and  a  civic  righteousness 
Christ  of  no  value  in  the  gospel  ministry  ?  Of  abso- 
lutely no  value  whatever  except  as  they  are  adjuncts 
to  the  crucifixion— fringes  in  the  rohe  of  Chrisfs 
righteousness  woven  in  the  loom,  of  suffering^  side- 
lights to  that  central  sun  that  flung  out  from  Calvary 
its  heams  of  light  and  life  upon  a  world  of  darkness 
and  death.  Nothing  but  "  Christ  crucified  "  is  "  the 
power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God.  Is  any  ideal 
gospel  ministry  possible  without  it  ?  Is  any  gospel 
ministry  possible  without    it?    Suppose   every   man 


Its  Central  Theme  77 

now  at  this  preeminent  business  of  preaching  Christ 
should  challenge  his  own  record  as  to  the  place  given 
in  his  ministry  to  "Christ  crucified."  If  he  should  go, 
in  the  light  of  God's  word,  and  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
to  a  review  of  his  past,  what  would  he  be  likely  to 
find  as  distinctively  and  unchallengeably  manifest  in 
his  ministry  of  the  Word;  not  impliedly  manifest  back 
somewhere  in  the  hidden  depths  of  his  own  conscious- 
ness, but  openly  manifest  to  the  sight  of  men? 
Would  it  be  that  here  is  a  man  who  intensely  believes 
"  there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven  given  among 
men  whereby  we  must  be  saved  "  (Acts  4  :  12),  and 
who  is  determined  not  to  know  anything  among  men 
save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified  (1  Cor.  2 :  2),  and 
who  glories  in  nothing  save  in  the  cross  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  through  which  the  world  has  been  cruci- 
fied unto  Him  and  He  unto  the  world  ?   (Gal.  6  :  14). 

3.  Surely  this  is  not  only  the  indispensable  condi- 
tion of  an  ideal  gospel  ministry  ;  it  is  the  crucial  test 
of  ANY  gospel  ministry. 

But  let  us  be  swift  to  say,  this  is  no  narrow  limita- 
tion of  the  gospel  message.  It  is  as  high  as  heaven, 
as  deep  as  hell,  as  wide  as  the  universe.  The  cross  is 
the  radiant  centre.  Out  from  it  stretch  the  radii. 
However  remote  the  circumference,  lines  drawn  from 
it  anywhere  verge  towards  the  centre.  The  preacher 
does  not  need  and  should  not  have  any  preaching  to 
the  "  times,"  or  to  the  "  occasion,"  that  shuts  out 
Christ  or  hides  His  cross.  The  power  of  the  ministry, 
that  shall  meet  the  yearning  and  heart-hunger  of  men, 
that  shall  uplift  humanity  and  bring  it  back  to  God,  is 
not  in  rites  and  ceremonies,  not  in  imposing  ritualistic 
forms,  not  in  robed  prelates  and  superfluous  benedic- 


78  The  Ideal  Ministry 

tions,  not  even  in  organized  agencies  and  wise  plans 
and  skillfully  directed  activities  ;  nor  is  it  in  preaching 
to  the  day,  nor  in  preaching  science  or  philosophy — 
the  power  is  not  in  any  or  all  of  these.  ISTor  is  the 
power  so  much  in  truths  and  doctrines;  but  in  the 
truth  and  the  doctrine.  There  is  but  one.  All  the 
wisdom,  all  the  love,  all  the  forgiveness  and  the  ten- 
derness and  the  patience  and  the  pathos  and  the  power 
of  God  are  in  that  word — Christ  crucified. 

We  may  be  sure  this  is  not  restricting  preaching  to 
any  narrow  field,  nor  compelling  any  monotonous 
repetition.  This  will  be  the  apprehension  only  of 
him  who  has  failed  of  comprehending  the  cross  of 
Christ  in  its  relation  to  God,  and  eternity,  and  the 
divine  law,  and  the  human  soul,  and  duty,  and  destiny. 
"  The  maturest  and  ablest  men  in  the  Christian  minis- 
try will  testify  with  tears  of  delight  and  thankful- 
ness that  the  gracious  mystery  of  redemption  by  the 
cross  has  ever  more  grown  before  the  vision  of  their 
reverence  and  love  until  it  has  filled  all  things  with 
its  mournful,  holy  and  infinite  glory.  They  will  testify 
further  that  the  cross  of  Christ  is  the  only  key  which 
can  open  the  secrets  of  human  history.  Apart  from 
that  cross  is  confusion  without  hope,  ...  a  the- 
ology without  religion,  a  temple  without  a  God. 
.  .  .  In  holding  up  that  cross  over  the  whole  field 
of  human  sin  and  want,  the  finest  powers  may  be 
exercised  and  exhausted,"  evoking  from  men  dead  in 
sin,  penitence,  loyalty,  service,  devotion,  sacrifice, 
and  lifting  them  up  to  a  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 

Moreover,  to  preach  Christ  is  to  preach  all  the  per- 
fections and  glories  of  God  Himself ;  for  in  Christ 
dwelt,  and  dwelleth,  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead 


Its  Central  Theme  79 

bodily.  The  glory  of  God  is  seen  nowhere  else  as  in 
the  face  of  Jesus,  He  being  *'  the  brightness  of  His 
glory  and  the  express  image  of  His  person." 

Power  belongeth  unto  God,  but  in  Christ  is  the  ex- 
ceeding greatness  of  His  power  manifesting  itself  not 
simply  over  inanimate  material  things,  but  over  living 
souls — the  highest  and  sublimest  display  of^power. 

Wisdom  belongs  to  God.  But  to  preach  Christ  is  to 
preach  God's  wisdom  in  preeminence — His  "manifold 
wisdom."  For  it  is  written, "  Unto  the  principalities 
and  the  powers  in  heavenly  places  shall  be  made 
known  through  the  Church  the  manifold  wisdom  of 
God  according  to  the  eternal  purpose  which  He  pur- 
posed in  Christ  Jesus." 

God  is  glorious  in  holiness  ;  but  His  holiness  finds 
its  intensest  and  most  transcendent  expression  at  the 
cross.  Justice^  too,  is  God's  essential  attribute,  but  he 
who  would  set  it  forth  to  men  must  preach  Christ 
crucified,  in  whom  the  inviolability  of  the  justice  of 
God  has  its  chief  expression. 

But  while  Christ  is  the  power,  the  wisdom,  the 
glory,  the  justice,  the  truth  of  God,  so  that  no  preacher 
can  dwell  on  these  divine  attributes  without  being  led 
straight  to  Christ's  cross  for  their  climax  and  culmina- 
tion, there  are  some  divine  attributes  that  cannot  be 
known  at  all,  with  any  clearness,  away  from  Christ. 
The  infinite  pity,  the  boundless  compassion,  the  match- 
less and  exhaustless  sympathy — nature  is  silent  about 
these ;  creation  gives  no  sign.  They  can  only  be 
preached  as  Christ  is  preached. 

To  preach  Christ  to  man  as  He  is  by  nature,  is  to 
make  profoundest  exhibition  of  the  illimitable  need  of 
man.     Whence  this  august  being,  and  why  His  tragic 


8o  The  Ideal  Ministry 

death,  if  man  is  not  under  a  fearful  condemnation  I 
What  balance  is  there  for  this  power  of  an  endless  life 
with  which  Christ  came,  but  this  power  of  an  endless 
death  under  which  man  is  placed  !  Preach  the  law, 
and  it  is  only  man's  schoolmaster  to  bring  him  to 
Christ.  Preach  duty,  and  it  sends  the  sinner  who 
cannot  discharge  it  to  Him  who  was  obedient  unto 
death  for  the  sinner's  sake. 

And  to  preach  Christ  to  the  believer  is  to  preach  all 
the  gifts  and  graces  of  godliness  as  they  are  of  Him 
and  in  Him,  who  is  made  of  God  to  every  disciple  wis- 
dom and  righteousness,  and  sanctification  and  redemp- 
tion. Faith,  love,  joy,  peace,  humility,  patience, 
gentleness,  life  itself,  are  all  of  Him  as  He  is  seen, 
appropriated,  fed  upon.  Believers  are  complete  in 
Him,  built  up  in  Him,  transformed  more  and  more 
into  His  likeness,  as  He  is  preached  to  them,  and  they 
behold  His  glory,  and  are  changed  into  the  same 
image  from  glory  to  glory.  Endless  are  the  sides  and 
aspects  in  which  He  stands  related  to  His  people. 

Preaching  Christ,  monotonous !  Then  infinite 
variety  is  monotonous.  The  preacher  who  thinks  so 
should  cry  to  God  to  open  his  eyes.  For  when  the 
blind  lead  the  blind,  both  shall  fall  into  the  ditch. 


VII 

THE  IDEAL  MINISTEY— ITS  ETERNAL  SA:N^C- 
TI0:N^S  :  EVEELASTII^G  LIFE  AND  DEATH 


SYLLABUS 

'  *  Sanctions ' ' — not  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  approving,  but  in  the 
deeper  sense  of  enforcing  authority.  No  other  speech  of  man  save 
preaching  has  God  behind  it.  No  other  is  mighty  with  the  power  of 
endless  life  and  death. 

1.  He  who  gave  these  sanctions  their  widest,  deepest  significance, 

is  He  who  came  to  seek  and  to  save. 

2.  His  coming  and  the  way  of  His  coming  are  a  proof  of  the  limit- 

less sweep  of  the  two  eternities. 

3.  He  speaks  with  the  same  degree  of  poaitiveness  of  the  one  as  of 

the  other. 

4.  He  makes  the  one  as  everlasting  as  the  other. 

5.  But  it  was  on  the  side  of  life  and  glory  He  loved  most  to  dwell. 
And  He  says  with  an  infinite  tenderness  and  pathos  that  the  way  we 

treat  Him  makes  the  difference — whether  we  become  heirs  of  God  to  an 
inheritance  incorruptible,  or  are  paid  the  wages  of  sin,  which  is  eternal 
death. 


VII 


THE   IDEAL  MINISTEY— ITS   ETERNAL  SAXC- 
TIOXS  :  EVEELASTmG  LIFE  AXD  DEATH 

ANOTHEK  of  the  great  and  mighty  ideas  con- 
nected with  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and 
that  tends  to  uplift  and  glorify  it  as  the  ideal 
ministry,  is  the  eternal  sanctions.  It  will  be  under- 
stood that  this  word  "  sanctions,"  is  not  here  used  in 
the  ordinary  sense  of  apjyroving^  but  in  the  deeper 
sense  of  enforcing  authority.  No  other  speech  of  men 
has  God  behind  it.  And  no  other  speech  of  men  is 
mighty  with  the  power  of  endless  life  and  death. 
Every  other  word  and  work  is  of  man,  and  has  to  do 
with  time.  This  is  of  God,  and  has  to  do  with  eter- 
nity, and  goes  far  to  decide  it  for  every  soul  it  touches. 
What  other  message  is  there  that  men  dare  carry  on 
their  lips  to  other  men,  and  say  to  them,  "  This  is  a 
savour  of  everlasting  life  or  of  everlasting  death  to 
you  ?  If  you  believe  the  message  you  will  be  saved. 
If  you  do  not  believe  it  you  Avill  be  lost." 

1.  First  of  all,  let  it  be  distinctly  borne  in  mind 
that  He  who  gave  these  sanctions  their  widest  and 
deepest  significance,  is  He  who  came  to  seeJc  and  save. 

He  did  not  come  as  a  prosecuting  attorney,  represent- 
ing government  and  law,  to  make  out  a  case  against 
us.  But  seeing  the  case  against  us.  He  came  to  pro- 
vide a  warrant  and  base  for  His  unceasing  and  effectual 
advocacy   in  our  behalf.     He  saw  us  "  partakers  of 

83 


84  The  Ideal  Ministry 

flesh  and  blood,"  and  He  came  to  be  one  of  us,  to  as- 
sume our  human  nature,  not  to  thunder  accusations 
and  send  us  on  to  perdition  ;  but  to  die  in  our  behalf, 
to  destroy  Him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  and  to 
deliver  us  who  were  otherwise  doomed  to  eternal 
bondage.  And  it  is  this  Lord  Christ,  Son  of  Mary  and 
Son  of  God,  come  "  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,"  yet 
without  sin,  who  speaks  the  most  clearly  and  weightily 
and  frequently  of  these  eternal  sanctions.  From  no 
other  lips  have  they  fallen  so  often  and  so  unchal- 
lengeably.  It  is  this  lover  of  our  souls,  this  seeker  and 
Saviour  of  the  lost,  who  tells  us  most  plainly  what  it 
means  to  be  lost.  It  is  His  parables  of  the  Lost  Sheep, 
and  the  Lost  Coin,  and  the  Lost  Boy,  and  the  Lost  Rich 
Man  that  reveal  with  a  vividness  and  intensity  beyond 
the  possibility  of  human  language  to  surpass,  not  only 
heaven's  deep  concern  for  the  lost,  but  what  a  fearful 
thing  it  tnust  he  to  he  lost ! 

2.  Christ's  coming  and  the  way  of  His  coming  are 
a  proof  of  the  limitless  sweep  of  the  two  eternities. 

Why  should  He  who  came  from  God  and  went  to 
God,  and  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with 
God,  and  who  was  the  brightness  of  the  Father's 
glory  and  the  express  image  of  His  person — why 
should  He  walk  that  path  of  tears  and  blood  until  at 
last  in  utter  anguish  of  soul  the  cry  was  wrung  from 
Him,  "  My  God !  My  God  !  Why  hast  Thou  forsaken 
Me,"  if  no  great  issues  hung  in  the  balance,  and  ever- 
lasting life  and  death  are  figments  of  the  imagina- 
tion !  Why  should  Christ  come  "  in  the  power  of  an 
endless  life,"  if  the  power  of  an  endless  death  is  only 
a  fancy  or  a  dream.  That  anguish  of  Calvary  must 
have  some  justification. 


Its  Eternal  Sanctions  85 

3.  Christ  spake  with  the  same  degree  of  positive- 
ness  of  eternal  death  as  He  did  of  eternal  life.  His 
own  representation  of  the  final  judgment  is  unmis- 
takable :  "  These  shall  go  away  into  eternal  punish- 
ment, but  the  righteous  into  eternal  life "  (Matt. 
25  :  46).  To  privileged  Capernaum  He  said  :  "  It  shall 
be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  in  the  day  of 
judgment,  than  for  thee."  And  beholding  Jerusalem 
He  wept  over  it,  saying,  '*  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem, 
which  killeth  the  prophets,  .  .  .  how  often  would 
I  have  gathered  thy  children  .  .  .  and  ye  would 
not — henceforth  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate." 
He  said  there  would  be  at  the  last  those  applying  for 
admission  to  heaven  to  whom  He  would  say,  "I  never 
knew  you  ;  "  "  Depart  from  Me  ;  "  "  The  door  is  shut ;  " 
"  I^one  of  those  which  were  bidden  shall  taste  of  My 
supper."  If  these  are  not  finalities,  then  finality  never 
found  expression. 

4.  Christ  represents  the  death  and  the  life  as  alike 
everlasting.  He  applies  to  each  the  terms  that  mean 
"  without  end."  Neither  the  words  nor  their  setting 
indicate  suspension  of  punishment,  any  more  than  sus- 
pension of  reward.  If  the  life  continues  right  on,  the 
death  continues  right  on.  If  the  life  is  spiritual,  the 
death  is  spiritual.  And  spiritual  death,  here  or  here- 
after, is  not  extinction  of  being,  but  of  well  being. 

Moreover,  the  Gospel  does  not  coin  the  punishment 
or  make  the  sinner.  Men  are  sinners.  And  there  the 
punishment  is.  Hell  therefore  has  not  been  built  by 
the  Gospel.  There  is  a  hell,  Gospel  or  no  Gospel. 
Does  the  headlight  of  the  locomotive  make  the  jaws 
of  death  into  which  the  express  train  plunges  because 
of  a  misplaced  switch  ?    The  danger  is  there  and  im- 


86  The  Ideal  Ministry 

minent.  And  the  headlight  only  tells  the  engineer  he 
is  swiftly  approaching  it.  Sometimes  the  telling  is 
too  late.  But  the  light  of  the  cross  flashed  on  the 
pathway  of  the  sinner  is  never  too  late,  if  heeded. 
Heeding  that  light  makes  the  difference.  What  we 
do  with  Christ  makes  the  difference — whether  we  be- 
come heirs  of  God  to  an  incorruptible  inheritance,  or 
are  paid  the  wages  of  sin,  which  is  eternal  death. 

5.  But  it  was  on  the  side  of  eternal  life,  its  exalta- 
tions, its  visions,  its  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory,  Christ  loved  most  to  dwell.  And  here  He  put 
the  infinite  pathos.  In  the  parable  of  the  talents  we 
hear  Him  saying  to  each  of  the  labourers  who  had 
gained  anything  by  their  talents,  "  Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant.  Thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a 
few  things,  I  will  set  thee  over  many  things.  Enter 
thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord^  And  the  parable  of 
the  Pounds  tells  the  same  story :  "  Thy  pound  hath 
gained  ten  pounds ;  have  thou  authority  over  ten 
cities.''^  And  in  that  marvellous  picture  of  the  last 
scene,  painted  with  Christ's  own  pencil,  hear  Him  say- 
ing to  the  righteous,  "  Ye  blessed  of  My  Father,  in- 
herit the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world.  For  I  was  hungry  and  athirst  and  in 
prison,  and  ye  ministered  unto  Me."  And  when  they 
answer,  Lord  w^hen  saw  we  Thee  hungry  and  athirst 
and  sick  and  in  prison?  The  King  shall  answer, 
''Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  one  of  these  least,  My 
hrethren,  ye  did  it  unto  MeP 

What  wonderful  promotions !  What  marvellous 
stimulants !  What  awe-inspiring  and  restraining 
motives  !  If  everlasting  life  and  death  enforce  any- 
thing, if  the  love  of  God  and  the  wrath  of  God  have 


Its  Eternal  Sanctions  87 

any  significance,  if  God  is  not  playing  with  our  hopes 
and  fears,  and  if  Calvary  is  indeed  an  infinite  sacrifice 
instead  of  an  ordinary  death  of  an  ordinary  criminal, 
then  there  is  nothing  so  deep  and  so  high  and  so 
mighty  as  the  Gospel's  eternal  sanctions.  And 
preaching  is  weighty  with  the  word  of  endless  life  and 
death. 

"Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?"  it  may  well  be 
asked.  Neither  Paul,  nor  A  polios,  nor  Cephas,  nor  an 
angel  from  heaven  alone,  even  though  perfect  man- 
hood in  Christ  Jesus  be  the  supreme  aim  of  the  min- 
istry, and  love  its  ruling  spirit,  and  the  Word  of  God 
its  subject  matter,  and  preaching  Christ  its  preemi- 
nent business.  There  is  still  a  divine  accomjpanhnent^ 
vital  to  spiritual  ^ower  and  victory. 


VIII 

THE  IDEAL  MINISTEY— ITS  COOPEEATING 
AGE:NT  :  THE  HOLY  SPIEIT 


SYLLABUS 

Introduction. — In  the  prosecution  of  great  worldly  business  enter- 
prises, there  is  often  a  silent  partner.  In  the  business  of  winning 
souls  and  building  them  up  in  Christ,  there  is  always  a  silent  partner. 
"It  is  not  by  might  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith  the 
Lord." 

1.  This   silent  but  mighty  cooperating  Agent   in  preaching  can 

never  be  seen,  though  He  can  always  be  consulted.     His  co- 
operation is  through  faith  not  sight. 

2.  His  cooperation  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  is  assured  by  ex- 

ceeding great  and  precious  promises. 

3.  His  specific  cooperation  in  the  construction  and  application  of 

the  sermon  : 

(a)     It  marks  the  substantive  difference  between  "preach- 
ing, ' '  and  all  eloquence  born  of  the  natural  powers 
of  man. 
(&)     It  is  along  the  lines  that  are  vital  to  spiritual  power 
in  the  ministry. 

(1)  In  producing  conviction  of  sin. 

(2)  In  begetting  the  new  creature  in  Christ. 

(3)  In  exhibiting  Christ  for  comfort,  stimulus  or 

rebuke. 

(4)  In  shedding  abroad  the  love  of  God  in  the 

heart. 
(c)  It  starts  with  the  selection  of  a  theme  or  text,  and 
continues  throughout  the  entire  construction  and 
delivery  of  the  sermon.  Through  the  whole  process 
the  Holy  Spirit  may  be,  and  should  be,  a  cooperat- 
ing agent. 


VIII 

THE  IDEAL  MINISTKY— ITS  COOPERATIIs^G 
AGENT :  THE  HOLY  SPIKIT 

IN  the  prosecution  of  great  worldly  business  enter- 
prises, there  is  often  a  silent  partner.  In  the 
business  of  winning  souls  and  building  them  up 
in  Christ  Jesus,  there  is  always  a  silent  partner.  In 
the  worldly  business,  the  silent  partner  is  often  the 
most  efficient.  In  the  business  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  the  silent  partner  is  always  the  most  efficient. 
Indeed  there  is  no  efficiency  apart  from  Him.  It  is 
"not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith 
the  Lord." 

1.  This  silent  mighty  cooperating  agent  in  preach- 
ing the  Gospel,  can  never  be  seen,  though  He  can  al- 
ways be  consulted.  He  is  never  behind  locked  doors, 
but  we  can  never  take  Him  by  the  hand.  Com- 
munion with  Him  is  always  a  blessed  possibility :  but 
He  will  never  say  to  a  doubting  soul,  as  Christ  said  to 
doubting  Thomas,  "Reach  hither  thy  finger."  The 
cooperation  must  be  through  faith,  not  sight. 

In  further  confirmation,  that  the  Spirit's  coopera- 
tion is  through  faith,  hear  the  Master's  word  to  His 
disciples  while  He  was  with  them  in  the  flesh  :  "It  is 
expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away.  For  if  I  go  not 
away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you.  But  if 
I  go,  I  will  send  Him  unto  you."  Why  expedient  ? 
Clearly,  His  body  was  in  the  way.     It  localized  the 

91 


92  The  Ideal  Ministry 

kingdom,  and  the  kingdom  is  by  eminence  a  kingdom 
of  spirit,  where  locality  is  nothing,  and  life  is  every- 
thing. So  it  was  better  for  the  Spirit  to  come  than 
for  Christ  to  stay.  The  touch  of  the  hand  is  as 
nothing  to  the  sight  of  the  soul. 

2.  The  Holy  Spirit's  cooperation  in  the  work  of 
the  ministry  is  assured  by  exceeding  great  and 
precious  promises.  "  If  I  go,"  said  Jesus  to  His 
disciples,  "I  will  send  Him  (the  Holy  Spirit)  unto 
you,  and  when  He  is  come.  He  will  convict  the  world 
in  respect  of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment. 
.  .  .  He  shall  guide  you  into  all  truth.  .  .  . 
He  shall  glorify  Me  for  He  shall  take  of  Mine  and  de- 
clare it  unto  you  (John  16  :  8, 13, 14).  The  Comforter 
whom  the  Father  will  send  in  My  name — He  shall 
teach  you  all  things  and  bring  to  your  remembrance 
all  that  I  said  unto  you  "  (John  15  :  26).  ''  The  love  of 
God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  through  the  Holy 
Spirit"  (Rom.  5  :  5).  "We  know  not  how  to  pray  as 
we  ought — but  the  Spirit  helpeth  our  infirmity — maketh 
intercession  for  the  saints  according  to  the  will  of 
God  "  (Rom.  8  :  26,  27). 

3.  The  Holy  Spirit's  specific  cooperation  in  the 
construction  and  application  of  the  sermon. 

Everything  in  the  structure  of  a  sermon  may  be 
referable  to  human  powers.  But  if  it  be  genuine 
spiritual  discourse,  it  has  come  from  natural  powers 
only  as  "  enlightened,  sustained  and  made  adequate  to 
the  result "  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

{a)  This  makes  the  substantive  difference  between 
preaching  and  all  eloquence  born  simply  of  the  natural 
powers  of  man.  Even  the  commonest  operations  of 
spiritual  life,  such  as  prayer  or  the  reading  of  God's 


Its  Cooperating  Agent  93 

"Word,  are  profitable  only  as  the  Spirit  has  part  in 
them.  We  read  the  letter  only,  without  Him  to  aid  in 
the  reading;  and  prayer  is  empty  and  vain  speech,  un-, 
less  He  help  our  infirmities  and  teach  us  how  to  prayJ 
But  this  high  and  holy  work  of  preaching,  unfolding 
divine  truth,  analyzing  and  developing  Scripture  texts 
that  are  the  very  mind  of  God,  "  speaking  as  God's 
mouth  the  infinite  things  of  the  Spirit," — can  it  be 
anything  else  than  divine-human  work  ?  Take  away 
the  cooperating  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
analysis  of  the  text,  the  preparation  of  the  plan,  and 
the  rhetorical  construction  and  actual  delivery  of  the 
sermon,  and  what  is  it,  what  can  it  be,  but  simply 
natural  discourse — a  human  product,  and  not  a  divine- 
human  product  ?  The  mere  use  of  the  letter  of  God's 
Word  does  not  lift  the  discourse  out  of  the  natural 
into  the  spiritual  realm.  It  is  only  when  He,  the 
Holy  Spirit,  preaches  that  we  have  true  preaching. 

(p)  This  cooperation  of  the  Spirit  is  along  the  very 
lines  that  are  vital  to  spiritual  power  and  victory  in 
the  ministry  of  the  Word. 

(1)  The  preacher  would  produce  conviction  of  sin 
by  his  sermon.  But  this  is  the  Spirit's  specific  and 
exclusive  office.  He  alone  can  do  this  initial  thing  in 
the  process  of  making  a  man  a  new  creature  in  Christ 
Jesus.  So  the  preacher  will  seek  the  Spirit's  guidance 
in  his  choice  of  a  tool  suited  to  the  specific  need ;  and 
His  guidance  also  in  the  unfolding  and  application  of 
the  truth. 

(2)  But  suppose  conviction  is  alread}^  wrought,  and 
the  preacher  is  now  after  instant  and  absolute  sur- 
render— a  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus.  "  Except  one 
man  be  born  be  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 


54  The  Ideal  Ministry 

But  born  of  whom  f  The  Holy  Spirit !  And  straight 
to  Him  the  preacher  goes  for  His  cooperation,  in  the 
preparation  of  the  sermon  that  shall  be  adapted  to 
bring  to  pass  this  great  thing. 

(3)  But  again ;  the  object  of  the  preacher  may  be 
to  bring  vividly  to  the  sight  and  heart  of  a  child  of 
God  some  beauty  or  glory  of  Christ  for  his  comfort 
or  stimulus  or  tender  rebuke.  Here  again  the  preacher 
comes  upon  a  blessed  office  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  the 
glory  of  the  Spirit  to  glorify  Christ.  And  so  the 
preacher  turns  to  the  Spirit,  and  seeks  His  help  in  the 
making  of  the  sermon  that  is  designed  to  exhibit  new 
beauty  in  Christ  Jesus  that  we  should  desire  Him. 

(4)  Or  again,  the  preacher  would  magnify  and 
make  more  potential  in  his  people's  hearts  God's 
boundless  love.  And  again  he  turns  to  the  Holy 
Spirit  for  His  special  help  in  this  blessed  business ; 
for  he  knows  that  "  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in 
our  hearts  through  the  Holy  Spirit.'^'* 

{c)  This  cooperation  of  the  Spirit  in  the  preaching 
starts  with  the  selection  of  a  theme,  or  the  choice  of 
a  text,  and  continues  through  the  meditation  on  it, 
the  elucidation  of  it,  the  construction  of  the  discourse, 
and  its  actual  delivery.  It  is  not  simply  there,  at  the 
contact  of  the  sermon  with  the  hearer's  heart  in  the 
public  assembly  that  His  aid  is  to  be  invoked  and 
expected.  Throughout  the  whole  process  He  is  a 
cooperating  agent.  Ignore  this  and  we  are  left  to 
naturalism  in  the  most  important  department  of 
ministerial  toil.  Let  the  preacher  believe  it,  get 
thoroughly  possessed  with  the  conviction  that  in  the 
entire  ordering,  as  well  as  in  the  issues,  of  horailetic 
preparation  for  the  pulpit  the  Spirit  of  God  has  a 


Its  Cooperating  Agent  95 

cooperating  agency — tliat  the  mightiest  agent  in  the 
universe  is  silentl}^,  constantly,  lovingly  working  with 
him  in  all  the  process  of  the  sermon,  and  in  all  the 
conduct  of  the  public  service,  and  what  intensity  of 
devotion  will  be  given  to  it !  A  zeal,  in  temper  with 
the  Holy  Spirit's  zeal — which  must  be  as  Christ's 
^vas — will  be  the  preacher's  as  he  studies  and  analyzes 
and  plans  in  the  prosecution  of  his  preparation  for  the 
Sabbath  and  the  sanctuary. 

The  Summary 
Let  us  now  once  more  call  the  roll  of  this  mighty 
succession  that  makes  up  the  ideal  ministry,  and  that 
stamps  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  as  the  tran- 
scendent work  of  this  world.  Preaching  is  its  jper- 
onanent  function  /  bringing  men  to  Christ  and  mak- 
ing them  like  Christ  is  its  supreme  aim ;  love  is  its 
ruling  spirit',  the  "Word  of  God  is  its  suhject-7natter  j 
preaching  Christ  is  its  jpreeminent  business ^  Christ 
crucified  is  its  central  theme;  everlasting  life  and 
death  are  its  eternal  sanctions ;  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  its  cooperating  agent. 

The  Searching  Interrogatives 
Suppose  now  we  change  these  affirmatives  into 
interrogatives,  and  that  they  lie  there  on  the  study 
table  of  the  man  of  God,  and  look  up  into  his  face 
for  answer  every  week  as  he  begins  his  work  of  ser- 
monizing. 

The  first  question  that  faces  him  is.  What  is  my 
permanent^  paramount  function  in  the  pulpit  ?  It  is 
preaching — first,  and  last  and  Silwsiys— preaching. 
To   this   God  has  called  me.     I  have  been  given  a 


96  The  Ideal  Ministry 

message,  and  I  am  to  deliver  that  message  ;  with 
every  variety  of  style  indeed,  with  every  help  of  logic 
and  illustration  ;  but  I  am  to  deliver  the  message. 
Teaching  is  not  preaching,  unless  it  is  oi^atorical  teach- 
ing, aimed  at  the  will.  Instruction  is  not  preaching, 
except  as  instruction  means,  first  and  last  and  always, 
persuasion.  Exegesis  is  not  preaching,  though  exe- 
gesis may  be,  and  often  should  be,  used  in  preaching. 
An  exegesis,  however  learned  and  exhaustive  and 
evangelical,  is  not  a  sermon,  though  it  may  con- 
tribute to  the  effectiveness  of  the  sermon.  Nor  is 
commentary  preaching.  We  may  have  whole  pages 
and  books  of  commentary,  critically  explaining  the 
text,  unfolding  its  meaning,  freeing  it  from  miscon- 
ception, and  yet  have  not  one  word  of  preaching. 
Exposition  and  application;  enlightenment  (^^^^^t*- 
suasion  /  the  intellect  and  the  heart ;  the  conscience 
and  the  will — these  are  the  marriages  that  must  take 
place  in  the  purpose  of  the  preacher,  to  constitute 
true  preaching ;  and  that  must  take  place  in  the 
consciousness  of  the  hearer  to  constitute  effective 
preaching.  "  Is  the  sermon  done?"  was  the  question 
asked  of  a  hearer,  as  he  stepped  from  the  sanctuary. 
"No,"  was  the  answer,  "it  is  only  preached.  It  still 
remains  to  be  done."  The  great  thing  in  preaching 
is  to  get  the  sermon  done,  by  getting  it  transmuted 
into  character,  and  translated  into  life. 

The  second  question  supposed  to  look  up  at  the 
preacher  and  to  challenge  answer,  as  he  begins  his 
weekly  sermonic  work,  is  this  :  What  is  my  supreme 
aim  in  this  weelc^s  sermon  f  Is  it  to  bring  a  sinner 
to  Christ,  or  to  make  a  Christian  more  Christlike  ? 
It  must  be  one  or  the  other  or  both,  to  constitute 


Its  Cooperating  Agent  97 

true  preaching.  Distinctly  is  my  sermon  for  next 
Sunday  to  be  planned  so  as  to  secure,  in  some  distinct 
and  definite  way,  more  perfect  manhood  in  Christ  ? 

The  third  question  facing  the  preacher,  as  he  gets 
ready  for  next  Sunday,  is  this  :  Is  love  my  ruling 
spirit  in  the  preparation  of  this  sermon  ?  Love  for 
God  for  whom  I  preach,  love  for  the  souls  to  whom 
I  preach,  love  for  Christ  whom  I  preach,  and  love 
for  the  truth  it  is  given  me  of  God  to  preach  ?  How 
the  mere  ambition  for  literary  fame,  for  eloquence 
of  speech,  for  scholarly  repute,  for  any  kind  of  rep- 
utation whatever,  born  of  this  world,  and  time, 
would  shrivel  up  and  be  consumed  in  the  fire  of  this 
consuming  love,  if  it  were  once  and  unchallengeably 
the  ruling  spirit  of  his  ministry. 

Another  question  that  looks  appealingly  up  from 
the  study  table  into  the  preacher's  face  for  answer, 
and  that  should  have  clear  and  unhesitating  reply,  is 
this  :  Is  my  suhject-matter  the  Word  of  God  f  Is  it 
God's  Word  I  preach  to-day — a  clear,  unchallenge- 
able, "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  "  ?  And  it  goes  without 
saying  that  the  use  of  a  Scripture  text  is  no  answer  to 
this  question.  For,  as  we  have  already  seen,  a  text 
may  be  torn  from  its  nexus,  and  made  to  mean  what 
the  Holy  Spirit  never  intended  it  should  mean,  when 
He  placed  it  in  the  Scriptures.  The  text  of  the  sermon 
may  be  the  very  letter  of  God's  Word,  and  yet  the 
sermon  preached  therefrom  may  have  no  scriptural 
warrant  whatever.  How  easy  it  is,  in  the  interests 
of  a  good  purpose,  to  twist  the  Word  of  God  to  suit 
that  purpose.  How  every  preacher  should  watch  his 
soul,  and  cry  to  God  to  keep  him  from  making  his 
own  will  God's  will. 


g8  The  Ideal  Ministry 

Still  another  question  that  should  have  answer,  in 
that  first  morning  hour  in  the  study:  Is jpreaching 
Christ  ray  jpreeminent  husinessf  Am  I  showing  it  in 
my  weekly  ministry  ?  Does  this  sermon  show  it  ? 
Not  that  every  sermon  should  specifically  and  tech- 
nically preach  Christ ;  but  that  a  succession  of  ser- 
mons should  show  trendy  and  that  all  sermonic  roads 
should  lead  to  Christ. 

And  a  question  more  vital  if  possible  than  all  the 
others  named,  should  look  up  in  the  preacher's  face 
and  get  answer,  viz..  Is  the  central  theme  of  rny  min- 
istry Christ  crucified  f  Is  my  preaching  prevailingly 
pointing  men  to  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world  ?  The  preacher  knows.  He  can 
tell.  If  he  has  any  doubt  about  it,  his  record  will  tell. 
Let  him  go  back  and  see.  Has  the  cross  been  often 
uplifted  in  his  pulpit  ?  Has  he  made  it  clear  to  his 
hearers,  by  every  possible  variety  of  representation, 
and  by  every  pressure  of  argument  and  appeal,  that 
there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven,  given  among 
men,  whereby  they  can  be  saved  ? 

Then  there  is  the  question  as  to  the  Gospel's  eternal 
sanctions  /  the  things  that  give  authority  to  the  mes- 
sage, and  make  preaching  tremendous  with  the  possi- 
bilities of  everlasting  life  and  death,  as  they  are 
wrapped  up  in  the  Gospel's  acceptance  or  rejection. 
Have  these  eternal  sanctions  any  rightful  place  in  the 
preaching  bidden  us  of  God  ?  Did  Christ  make  any 
room  for  them  in  the  midst  of  His  own  marvellous, 
tender,  solemn  beseechings  and  warnings  ?  Then  we 
must  make  room  for  them  in  our  preaching,  or  be 
recreant  to  truth  and  to  Him.  What  place  have  we 
given    them  ?     Much   place  ?     Little   place  ?     Any 


Its  Cooperating  Agent  99 

place  ?  No  change  of  times  or  seasons,  no  feelings  of 
love  or  pity  or  compassion,  no  conditions  of  refinement 
and  culture  can  justify  silence,  where  our  blessed  Lord 
has  spoken — with  divine  and  matchless  tenderness  in- 
deed ;  with  tears  and  a  broken  heart  indeed  ;  but  He  has 
spoken,  and  with  a  fidelity  we  must  try  to  equal,  if  we 
would  tell  His  whole  story.  We  never  can  preach  His 
Gospel^  if  we  hide  His  cross.  There  is  no  heaven  to 
the  preacher  who  can  be  silent  about  hell !  And  the 
crucifixion  was  a  butchery,  if  it  is  not  a  dreadful  thing 
to  be  lost ! 

Blessed  be  God,  there  is  another  question  looking  up 
into  the  preacher's  face,  in  the  quiet  of  his  study,  as 
he  begins  his  sermonic  work.  And  he  asks  himself, 
Who  is  with  me  in  this  mighty  business  f  And  the 
answer  comes  from  the  Lord's  own  lips.  He  had  told 
the  disciples  He  was  going  away,  and  sorrow  filled 
their  hearts.  And  He  said,  I  will  not  leave  you  com- 
fortless. It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  so  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  may  come,  and  He  will  abide  with  you  for- 
ever. And  it  will  be  His  blessed  business  to  "  teach 
you  all  things,"  and  to  "  bring  to  your  remembrance 
all  that  I  have  said  unto  you."  "  He  shall  bear  wit- 
ness of  Me."  "  He  will  convict  the  world  in  respect 
of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment."  "  He  shall 
guide  you  into  all  the  truth."     "  He  shall  glorify  Me." 

And  so  the  Holy  Spirit  is  here.  He  is  here  to  stay. 
He  is  the  silent  partner  in  this  business  of  preaching. 
He  is  to  take  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  show  them  to 
us.  All  the  riches  of  grace  and  glor}^  in  Christ  incon- 
ceivable. He  is  to  open  to  us.  And  our  preaching  is  to 
be  not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  the  Holy  Spirit : 
convincing  of  sin,  convincing  of  righteousness,  convinc- 


loo  The  Ideal  Ministry 

ing  of  judgment,  transforming  men  more  and  more 
into  the  divine  image  from  glory  to  glory,  until  they 
are  set  before  the  presence  of  God's  glory  with  ex- 
ceeding joy.  Should  a  sermon  ever  be  prepared  with- 
out the  sermonizer's  first  asking  and  answering  these 
questions  ?  What  is  my  aim  in  this  sermon  ?  What 
am  I  handling  ?  What  is  my  spirit  ?  By  what  is  my 
word  enforced?  Who  is  with  me  in  the  mighty 
business  ? 

The  ideal  ministry  indeed !  How  peerless  its 
claims  1  How  limitless  its  possibilities  !  How  superb 
its  permanent  function !  How  lofty  its  aim  !  How 
godlike  its  spirit !  What  a  Christ  it  preaches  !  What 
a  cross  it  lifts  up  1  What  everlastingness  it  puts  into 
its  inescapable  alternatives!  And  what  a  partnership 
with  God  it  furnishes  in  the  person  and  presence  and 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit ! 

These  are  the  great  and  mighty  ideas  that  are  in- 
dissolubly  connected  with  the  work  of  preaching,  that 
uplift  and  glorify  the  homiletic  art,  and  that  are  fitted 
to  arouse  a  lofty  enthusiasm  in  its  prosecution.  What 
are  mortal  daubings  on  canvas  when  painting  can  be 
done  with  eternity  for  a  background !  What  are 
Thorwaldsen's  and  Michael  Angelo's  chisellings  in 
marble  when  sculptured  souls,  wrought  into  the  very 
image  of  Christ,  may  be  the  immortal  product  of  our 
toil !  What  is  it  to  make  poems  and  orations  that  shall 
kindle  only  natural  emotions,  when  sermons  may  be 
made  that  shall  put  a  new  song  in  the  mouth  and  a 
new  joy  in  the  hearts  of  redeemed  millions — the  song 
to  be  sung  and  the  joy  to  be  felt  forever  and  ever  I 


PART  TWO 

EELATED  IDEALS 


IX 
THE  ^^CALL"  TO  THE  MINISTEY 


SYLLABUS 

I.     What  is  the  "call  "  to  the  ministry? 
(a)      It  is  of  God  ;  uot  of  mau. 

{b)      It  is  immediate  ;  uot  through  a  church  or  bishop, 
(e)     It  is  iuterual ;  the  direct  ageucy  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on 
the  heart. 

(d)  It  is  effectual  ;  the  called  of  God  to  the  ministry  get 

iuto  the  ministry. 

1.  Argument  from  Scripture. 

(a)  The  call  to  the  sacred  office  under  Old  Testament  dis- 
pensation was  God's  exclusive  prerogative. 

(6)  Christ  made  it  His  exclusive  prerogative  while  on 
earth. 

(c)  In  every  recorded  case  the  "call"  was  immediate, 
personal  and  effective. 

((/)      The  Church  is  to  pray  that  He  will  continue  to  call. 

(e)  Having  ascended  on  high  Christ  answers  this  prayer, 

and    continues    to    give    the   Church   pastors  and 
teachers. 
(/)     The  Scripture  record,  after  Christ's  ascension,  shows 
that  the  "call  "  is  now  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  still 
immediate,  personal  and  effective. 

2.  Argument  from  the  nature  of  the  case. 

(a)  The  supreme  head  of  every  government  appoints  the 

persons  that  represent  it. 

(b)  Difference  between  God's  call  to  a  spiritual  office  and 

His  call  to  an  ordinary  occupation. 

3.  Argument  from  the  testimony  of  the  Church. 

(a)  Apostolic  Church  held  that  the  "call  "  is  by  the  Holy 

Spirit. 

(b)  Churcli  of  Reformation  so  held. 

(c)  Post-Reformation  Churches  characterized  as  evangelical 

have  so  held. 
II.     How  is  the  "call  "  certified  to  the  individual  ? 

(a)     By  the  conviction  that  one  ought  to  preach. 
(6)    By  the  desire  to  preach. 

(c)  By    the   possession    of    the    natural    qualifications — 

physical,  intellectual  and  spiritual. 

(d)  By  the  approving  judgment  of  the  Church. 


IX 

THE  -'CALL"  TO  THE  MINISTRY 

IS  there  a  special  call  to  the  gospel  ministry  ? 
How  is  this  call  certified  to  the  individual  ? 
Very  much  more  depends  upon  the  answer  to 
these  questions  than  may  at  first  appear.  One's  view 
of  the  ministry  not  anly,  but  his  fitness  for  it  and  his 
efiiciency  in  it,  will  be  largely  determined  by  the  view 
he  takes  of  the  call  to  the  ministry,  and  of  its  proper 
authentication.  If  we  hold  that  the  divine  call  is 
through  an  infallible  Church,  whose  voice  is  always 
and  everywhere  God's  voice,  then  we  have  a  ministry 
of  priests  whose  authority  consists  in  a  certain  sacred 
something  that  has  come  to  them  through  the  laying 
on  of  hands,  and  we  are  swung  to  the  extreme  of 
sacerdotal  dogma.  If  we  hold  that  the  call  is  not, 
either  in  kind  or  degree,  different  from  God's  agency 
with  reference  to  any  other  occupation,  then  we  have 
a  ministry  that  can  be  entered  and  left  almost  at  will, 
and  we  are  swung  to  the  opposite  extreme  of  license 
and  the  purest  naturalism. 

What  is  the  call  to  the  ministry  f  It  is  of  God,  im- 
mediate, internal,  effectual. 

It  is  of  God^  not  of  man — divine,  not  human. 

It  is  immediate,  not  through  a  church  or  bishop. 

It  is  internal,  the  direct  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
on  the  heart — not  external,  as  in  providential  cir- 
cumstances. 

103 


104  Related  Ideals 

It  is  effectual.  The  called  of  God  to  the  ministry 
get  into  the  ministry. 

1.    Argument  from  the  Scriptures 

In  proof  of  this  special,  divine  call  our  appeal  should 
be  taken  first  to  the  Scriptures.  Do  they  fairly  war- 
rant the  view  here  taken  ?  To  the  law  and  the  testi- 
mony. 

It  cannot  be  questioned  that  God  exercised  over  the 
sacred  offices  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation  an  exclusive 
proprietorship.  He  did  not  assign  to  the  mass  of  His 
people  their  several  occupations.  But  He  did  dis- 
tinctly call  and  set  apart  certain  persons  to  official 
spiritual  service.  It  was  "  the  word  of  the  Lord  "  that 
came  unto  the  prophets,  and  from  Samuel  to  Malachi 
they  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Aaron  was  named  of  God  for  the  High  Priesthood. 
And  in  Hebrews  5  :  14  it  is  expressly  declared,  "  I^o 
man  taketh  this  honour  unto  himself  but  he  that  is 
called  of  God  as  was  Aaron." 

When  Christ  was  '^  made  a  High  Priest  forever," 
and  "  offered  a  sacrifice  once  for  all,"  the  sacrificing 
human  priesthood  was  abolished.  But  the  prophetic 
office,  barring  the  predictive  element,  was  perpetuated. 
While  Christ  abolished  the  priesthood,  He  established 
a  ministry.  He  personally  selected  and  called  a  cer- 
tain number  to  follow  Him.  He  gave  them  personal 
instruction,  and  charged  them  alone  with  certain  spir- 
itual and  official  functions.  His  final  commission  was 
twofold:  they  were  to  go  into  all  the  world  and  r)ialce 
disciples^  and  they  were  to  teach  these  disciples.  In 
other  words,  they  were  to  bring  men  to  Christ,  and 
then  to  build  them  up  in  Christ  (Matt.  28  :  19-20). 


The  "Call"  to  the  Ministry  105 

In  proof  that  this  evangelizing  and  teaching  ministry 
was  not  simply  apostolic  we  have  the  promise  added 
to  the  charge:  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  ^t>^7i  unto 
the  end  of  the  world.'*''  To  provide  for  the  perpetua- 
tion of  this  ministry,  and  in  proof  that  the  agency  of 
the  Lord  is  jpersonal  and  vital  in  j)utting  men  into  it, 
we  have  twice  from  Christ's  lips  this  impressive  com- 
mand, "  Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  He  will 
send  forth  labourers  into  His  harvest "  (Matt.  9  :  38 ; 
Luke  10  :  2).  So  this  command  not  only  lays  perma- 
nent obligation  on  the  Christian  Church  thus  to  pray, 
but  it  just  as  truly  indicates  Christ's  exclusive  preroga- 
tive in  sending  men  into  the  ministry.  It  is  therefore 
not  lineal  descent  nor  an  infallible  Church,  but  the 
Lord  Himself  that  designates  who  shall  preach. 

But  how  ?  In  what  way  ?  Is  His  agency  indirect 
and  providential  ?  Or  immediate  and  spiritual  ?  The 
Scriptural  record  after  the  ascension  seems  clearly  to 
indicate  the  latter. 

The  first  point  in  proof  is  the  call  and  appointment 
of  Matthias  (Acts  1  :  15-26).  One  hundred  and  twenty 
disciples  were  met  together,  and  at  the  suggestion  of 
Peter  they  took  the  necessary  steps  to  fill  the  place  of 
Judas.  They  selected  the  two  men  who  probably  alone 
of  that  company  possessed  the  requisite  qualifications  ; 
i.  e.,  men  who  had  been  with  the  disciples  all  the  time 
the  Lord  went  in  and  out  among  them,  and  who  could 
thus  witness  to  His  life  and  death  and  resurrection. 
They  then  prayed  their  ascended  Lord  that  He  would 
show  which  of  these  two  He  had  chosen.  And  giving 
lots  for  them,  the  lot  fell  upon  Matthias. 

It  is  objected  that  this  whole  proceeding  was  with- 
out divine  sanction,   and    simply  another    proof  of 


lo6  Related  Ideals 

Peter's  forwardness.  In  support  of  this  objection  it 
is  said  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  given,  that 
Matthias  was  never  afterwards  mentioned,  that  it  ex- 
cludes Paul  from  the  number  of  the  twelve.  To  this 
it  may  be  replied  :  (1)  The  Holy  Ghost  had  been 
given  (John  20  :  22),  though  not  in  the  copious  measure 
and  miraculous  way  of  Pentecost;  (2)  If  Matthias 
is  never  again  mentioned,  neither  are  most  of  the 
other  apostles ;  (3)  Paul  was  never  numbered  with 
the  twelve  as  Judas'  successor,  but  was  distinct  in  his 
office  as  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles. 

In  proof  of  direct  divine  sanction,  we  have  (1)  The 
fact  that  the  record  is  spread  out  in  the  inspired  nar- 
rative with  great  fullness  of  detail  and  without  a  hint 
or  suggestion  of  disapproval.  Is  it  at  all  likely  that 
an  unciutliorized  proceeding  would  here  and  thus  be 
recorded?  (2)  After  the  death  of  Judas  and  until 
this  choice  of  Matthias  the  apostles  are  called  "  the 
eleven  "  (Matt.  28  :  16  ;  Mark  16  :  14  ;  Luke  24  :  9,  33) ; 
after  this  choice,  and  before  Saul's  conversion,  they  are 
called  "  the  twelve  "  (Acts  2  :  14 ;  6  :  2) .  (3)  The  in- 
spired record  expressly  says  of  Matthias,  "  He  was 
numbered  with  the  twelve  apostles."  This,  of  itself, 
fixes  Matthias'  place,  and  so  stamps  his  call  as  of 
God. 

Paul  also  was  directly  called  of  God.  Over  and 
over  he  states  this  fact :  that  he  is  an  apostle  by  the 
commandment  of  God  (1  Tim.  1  :  1),  by  the  will  of 
God  (2  Cor.  1  :  1),  that  Jesus  Christ  put  him  into  the 
ministry  (1  Tim.  1  :  12),  that  he  received  his  min- 
istry of  the  Lord  Jesus  (Acts  20  :  24).  The  Holy 
Ghost  said  (Acts  13  :  2),  "  Separate  Me  Barnabas  and 
Saul  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them." 


The  "Call"  to  the  Ministry  I07 

This  was  at  Antioch  where  Paul  was  publicly  or- 
dained along  with  Barnabas  as  a  missionary  to  the 
heathen. 

Furthermore  we  have  this  Scriptural  statement  that 
when  Christ  ascended  up  on  high,  "  He  gave  gifts 
unto  men,"  and  "  He  gave  some  apostles,  and  some 
prophets,  and  some  evangelists,  and  some  pastors  and 
teachers  :  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints  ;  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry  ;  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of 
Christ"  (Eph.  4:11,  12). 

That  this  divine  call  is  effectual^  all  these  Scriptures 
go  to  prove.  They  show  not  only  that  the  Lord  calls, 
but  that  the  call  is  specific  and  personal,  always  to 
the  individual,  not  general  and  to  the  mass.  Hence,  the 
selection  is  proof  of  the  divine  wish  and  purpose,  and 
carries  with  it  the  idea  of  effectualness.  Moreover, 
every  man  called,  of  whom  we  have  record  in  Scrip- 
ture, was  made  to  obey  the  call,  though  at  first  reluc- 
tant and  even  opposed.  Moses  remonstrated  until  the 
anger  of  the  Lord  gave  an  imperativeness  to  the  call 
that  silenced  his  opposition.  Jonah  sought  to  flee  the 
divine  call,  and  was  landed  in  the  belly  of  hell,  till  he 
repented  and  gave  the  call  heed.  The  record  is  of 
obedience  in  every  case.  Whom  God  wanted  to 
preach  His  Word,  He  got  to  preach  it. 

We  have,  then,  established  by  Scripture  these 
points :  {a)  That  the  call  to  sacred  office,  under  the 
Old  Testament  dispensation,  was  God's  exclusive 
prerogative,  (b)  That  Christ  made  it  equally  His  ex- 
clusive prerogative  while  on  earth,  {c)  That  in  every 
recorded  case  the  call  was  immediate,  personal  and 
effectual,  {d)  That  the  Church  is  to  pray  that  He 
will  continue  to  call,     {e)  That  having  ascended  on 


lo8  Related  Ideals 

high  He  answers  this  prayer  and  continues  to  give 
the  Church  pastors  and  teachers,  {f)  The  Scripture 
record,  after  Christ's  ascension,  shows  that  the  call 
is  now  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  still  immediate,  per- 
sonal and  effective.  The  mode  of  the  divine  call  has 
changed.  The  fact  of  the  divine  call  remains.  The 
call  is  no  longer  audible,  for  this  is  the  dispensation  of 
the  Spirit.  God,  the  Spirit,  does  not  speak  to  the  out- 
ward ear.  His  call  is  inner  and  silent,  to  the  ear  of 
the  soul,  but  as  immediate,  personal  and  effectual  as 
was  Christ's  when  on  earth. 

Those  who  hold  to  the  contrary  must  show  some 
Scriptural  authority  for  their  belief.  They  should 
be  able  to  point  to  some  statement  of  the  Word 
declaring  a  change  in  the  divine  method  of  getting  a 
ministry. 

2.  Argument  From  the  Nature  of  the  Case 

This  argument  is  not  used  to  sujpjjort  the  Scriptural 
argument,  but  to  show  that  the  two  are  in  perfect 
harmony.  By  a  sound,  enlightened  judgment  on  the 
case,  we  are  brought  to  the  same  conclusion,  as  we  are 
by  the  Word  of  God. 

The  supreme  head  of  every  government  appoints 
the  persons  that  represent  it.  They  are  styled  min- 
isters, ambassadors,  heralds.  They  stand  in  the  name 
of  the  power  appointing  them ;  their  business  is  not 
their  own.  They  are  called,  chosen  and  sent.  They 
never  go  merely  of  their  own  option.  An  ambassador 
without  direct  and  sovereign  appointment  is  an  ab- 
surdity. 

ISTow,  the  preacher  of  the  Gospel  is  named  an  am- 
bassador, a  herald,  a  steward,  a  minister.     But  how 


The  "Call"  to  the  Ministry  109 

can  he  be  these  without  a  commission,  an  appoint- 
ment ?  And  from  whom  but  Christ,  the  head  and 
king  of  the  Church  ?  Does  not  right  reason  demand 
that  he  who  declares  himself  an  ambassador  for  CJirist^ 
so  that  it  is  as  if  God  spake  by  him  and  he  were  in 
his  king's  stead,  must  hold  a  commission  consciously 
from  his  divine  sovereign,  or  be  guilty  of  blasphe- 
mous presumption ! 

In  reply  to  this  it  may  be  said.  Let  it  be  granted 
that  Christ  calls  men  to  the  ministry  to  be  His  am- 
bassadors :  He  also  calls  them  to  other  occupations. 
God,  in  His  providence,  has  a  place  and  a  work  for 
every  one  of  the  subjects  of  His  kingdom. 

To  this  the  sufficient  answer  is.  There  is  a  manifest 
difference  between  God's  providential  agency  and  His 
spiritual  agency,  and  between  ordinary  occupation  and 
a  spiritual  office.  The  spiritual  office  has  been  cre- 
ated by  Christ,  the  work  in  it  depends  upon  the  imme- 
diate presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the 
call  to  it  is  therefore  manifestly  different  from  the 
call  to  occupations  that  are  solely  of  man.  Further- 
more, we  do  not  pray  that  the  Lord  would  send  forth 
lawyers,  physicians,  merchants,  mechanics.  We  are 
commanded  to  pray  that  He  would  send  forth  minis- 
ters. The  supply  for  the  former  we  know  may  be 
left  to  take  care  of  itself.  The  supply  for  the  latter 
cannot  be  so  left.  Yet  why  not,  if  God's  agency  is 
the  same  in  either  case  ?  A  spiritual  call  concerns 
itself  with  spiritual  things.  God,  by  His  Spirit, 
calls  to  a  spiritual  office.  A  providential  call  con- 
cerns itself  more  immediately  with  temporal  things. 
God,  by  His  providence,  calls  to  an  ordinary  occu- 
pation. 


no  Related  Ideals 

3.    Argument  From  the  Testimony  of  the 

Church 

The  voice  of  the  Church  is  not  necessarily  and 
always  the  voice  of  God.  But  if  the  Church,  in  all 
her  best  ages  and  branches,  has  been  agreed  in  hold- 
ing the  call  to  the  ministry  to  be  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  fact  does  very  greatly  strengthen  the  conviction 
that  this  is  the  teaching  of  Scripture. 

That  the  apostolic  age  so  held  is  proved  by  Scrip- 
ture. The  form  of  a  spiritual  call  to  the  ministry  was 
maintained  in  the  Church  through  the  first  centuries 
though  the  reality  was  ere  long  and  often  disregarded. 
This  is  clear  from  the  forms  of  ordination  used  even 
after  the  development  of  a  hierarchical  theory  of  a 
priesthood.  The  words  of  the  Greek  Church  were, 
"  The  divine  grace  which  helpeth  them  that  are  weak 
and  supplieth  that  which  lacketh  chose  this  godly 
deacon  to  be  priest."  "  The  Constitution  of  the  Holy 
Apostles,"  a  spurious  work,  whose  date  cannot  be 
certainly  fixed,  but  which  doubtless  appeared  some- 
where in  the  very  early  centuries,  appointed  this 
prayer  for  ordination,  "  Grant  by  Thy  name,  O  God, 
who  searchest  the  hearts,  that  this  Thy  servant  whom 
Thou  hast  chosen  to  be  a  bishop,"  etc. 

It  early  came  to  pass,  as  Chrysostom  of  the  fourth 
century  declares,  that  men  were  selected  and  advanced 
to  the  priestly  dignity  for  causes  which  ought  to  have 
prevented  them  from  passing  over  the  pavements  of 
the  Church.  Hence  monasticism,  the  best  life  of  the 
Church  hidden  in  monasteries,  through  the  corruption 
of  the  priesthood  ;  monks  called  by  eminence  religious  ; 
the  clergy  called  secular  or  worldly,  not  having  taken 
upon  themselves  the  vows  of  poverty.     The  sacerdotal 


The  "Call"  to  the  Ministry  ill 

idea  had  become  dominant,  the  sacraments,  being 
exaggerated  and  perverted,  and  the  preaching  and 
teaching  function  almost  wholly  set  aside.  Growing 
out  of  this  was  the  invention  of  the  mass,  the  doctrine 
of  transubstantiation,  additional  sacraments,  priestly 
absolution,  the  confessional. 

With  the  Reformation  the  true  idea  of  a  call  to  the 
ministry  was  restored.  We  hear  Luther,  commenting 
on  Jer.  23  :  31,  after  this  fashion  :  "  Await  God's  call. 
Meantime  be  satisfied.  Yea,  though  thou  wast  wiser 
than  Solomon  and  Daniel,  yet,  unless  thou  art  called, 
avoid  preaching  as  thou  wouldest  hell  itself."  Calvin 
held  the  same  view.  The  Reformers  of  the  Church  of 
England,  in  arranging  the  formula  for  ordination, 
compelled  each  candidate  to  express  his  belief  that  he 
was  "  inwardly  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  "  to  take 
upon  himself  the  holy  office.  And  Bishop  Burnet  (last 
of  seventeenth  century)  writing  of  this  says  :  "  Our 
Church  must  be  construed  to  intend  by  this  that  it  is 
only  Christ  that  sends,  and  that  the  bishops  are  only 
His  ministers  to  pronounce  His  mission."  Further,  if 
any  candidate  says,  "  *  I  trust  so,'  that  yet  knows  noth- 
ing of  any  such  motion  and  can  give  no  account  of  it, 
he  lies  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  makes  his  first  approach 
to  the  altar  with  a  lie  in  his  mouth,  and  that  not  to 
men  but  to  God."  If  such  a  view  of  the  call  to  the 
ministry  had  been  always  cherished  by  the  Church  of 
England,  Leigh  Richmond  would  never  have  been 
obliged  to  utter  the  sad  lament,  ''  The  national 
Church  groans  and  bleeds  from  the  crown  of  its  head 
to  the  sole  of  its  feet  for  the  daily  intrusion  of  un- 
worthy men  into  its  ministry."  The  Wesleyan  Refor- 
mation brought  to  prominence  again  the  doctrine  of  a 


1 1 2  Related  Ideals 

personal  divine  call.  Whitefield  held  that  any  min- 
ister, before  he  undertakes  to  preach,  should  be  able 
to  say,  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because 
He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gospel."  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  requires  every  man  enter- 
ing her  ministry  to  say  he  is  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Vinet,  of  the  French  Protestant  Church, 
says  :  "  We  must  be  called  of  God.  A  call  to  a  min- 
istry which  is  exercised  in  the  name  of  God,  can 
emanate  only  from  Him.  .  .  .  Whether  external 
or  internal  the  call  ought  to  be  divine."  And  the 
Presbyterian  churches,  holding  to  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith,  all  declare  that  the  Word  of 
God  is  to  be  preached  only  by  such  as  are  duly  "  ap- 
proved and  called  to  that  office"  {^Larger  Catechism^ 
Ques.  158,  with  Scrip,  proof).  It  is  thus  seen  that, 
just  as  the  Church  has  risen  from  impurities  and  cor- 
ruptions in  all  her  periods  of  restoration  in  all  ages, 
has  she  emphasized  the  idea  of  a  spiritual  call  to  the 
ministry. 

History  thus  shows  that  the  Church  holding  faith- 
fully to  this  doctrine  has  had  the  purest  and  god- 
liest  ministry  ;  that  just  as  this  idea  has  been  lost 
sight  of  has  corruption  crept  in,  leading  either  to  the 
extreme  of  sacerdotalism  or  to  that  of  naturalism. 

By  this  threefold  argument,  therefore, — by  the 
argument  from  Scripture,  the  argument  from  history, 
and  the  argument  from  the  nature  of  the  case, — it  is 
made  clear  that  he  who  enters  the  ministry  should 
have  a  divine  commission  behind  him,  as  he  is  sent  of 
God ;  a  divine  summons  before  him,  as  he  is  called  of 
God ;  and  a  divine  conviction  within  him,  wrought  of 
God.     Ought  any  man  to  take  upon  himself  the  vows 


The  *'Call"  to  the  Ministry  113 

of  ordination  who  cannot  reverently  make  the  very 
words  of  the  Master  his  own,  and  by  the  grace  of 
God  trustfully  say,  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon 
me,  because  He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel "  ? 

The  second  great  question  now  claims  our  attention. 
If  there  is  this  special  call  of  God  to  the  ministry,  how 
is  this  call  certified  to  the  individual  f 

The  first  element  in  the  certification  is  the  convic- 
tion that  one  ought  to  preach  the  Gospel. 

This  sense  of  duty  or  prevailing  feeling  of  obligation 
is  vital.  And  it  is  not  simply  negative — the  absence 
of  any  conviction  of  obligation  to  engage  in  some  other 
pursuit.  It  is  the  grip  of  a  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord." 
At  the  outset,  the  conviction  may  not  be  very  strong, 
or  deep,  but  it  should  come  at  last  to  amount  to  a  "  Woe 
is  me  if  I  do  not  preach,"  seizing  the  mind  with  an  im- 
periousness  amounting  to  something  like  an  inner  com- 
pelling violence.  No  man  should  dare  be  guilty  of 
stepping  towards  the  Christian  ministry  whose  mind 
is  a  blank  concerning  this  matter,  so  far  as  a  sense  of 
obligation  goes.  In  any  case,  and  for  any  occasion, 
the  conviction  should  be  lodged  more  or  less  clearly 
in  the  consciousness.  The  direct  and  efficient  cause 
of  the  conviction  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  occasions, 
coincident  with  the  conviction  and  leading  to  it,  may 
be  various,  as  used  by  the  Spirit.  Favouring  circum- 
stances, sense  of  adaptation,  considerations  of  useful- 
ness, providential  indications — these  may  be  incidents 
and  attendants  instrumental.  But  these  are  not  the 
call,  nor  are  they  the  efl3.cient  cause  of  the  conviction. 
If  they  were,  then  every  gifted  young  man  in  college 
with  scarcely  an  exception  should  feel  himself  called 


114  Related  Ideals 

to  the  ministry,  and  we  should  have  no  eminent  Chris- 
tian lawyers  and  statesmen  and  jurists.  Why  should 
not  every  Christian  young  man  of  good  parts  and 
powers  be  reasonably  sure  of  greater  usefulness  in 
directly  preaching  the  Gospel  than  in  any  other  way, 
provided  always  he  had  the  gifts  ?  And  the  gifts  that 
would  make  him  a  good  lawyer  are  the  very  gifts 
needed  for  the  ministry — viz.,  facility  of  speech,  apt- 
ness to  teach,  discrimination  and  administration.  It 
was  not  Paul's  fitness,  or  taste,  or  circumstances,  or 
any  consideration  of  greater  usefulness,  that  based  his 
*'  Woe  is  me."     It  was  God^s  call — I  must  preach. 

A  second  element  certifying  to  the  divine  call  is  the 
desire  to  preach  the  Gospel.  This  may  antedate  con- 
viction, or  it  may  follow.  The  desire  may  be  present 
when  there  is  great  doubt  as  to  fitness,  or  when  cir- 
cumstances may  seem  to  hedge  up  the  way.  When  it 
exists  and  continues^  without  any  conviction,  and  the 
man  enters  the  ministry  with  no  profound  feeling  of 
duty,  then  it  befits  the  candidate  to  consider  whether 
the  desire  is  not  born  of  selfishness  and  the  devil,  in- 
stead of  love  to  God.  The  man  whose  preference 
stands  alone,  without  anything  to  bind  him  to  his  path 
but  the  inclination  of  his  own  heart,  ought  to  ask  him- 
self if  he  is  not  treading  on  holy  ground  with  sandalled 
feet. 

Two  questions,  asked  and  answered,  will  test  desire 
and  go  far  to  determine  its  genuineness  and  worth. 

1.  Is  it  a  desire  for  the  ministry  itself?  or  for 
something  in  the  ministry  that  suits  the  taste  ?  The 
ministry  furnishes  splendid  opportunity  for  the  exer- 
cise of  oratorical  gifts.  The  ministry  is  favourable 
to  the  indulgence  of  a  taste  for  literature.     The  min- 


The  "Call"  to  the  Ministry  115 

istry  assures  of  social  standing  and  of  association  with 
the  most  intelligent  and  refined.  But  these  are  things 
in  the  ministry,  incident  to  the  ministry.  They  are 
not  the  ministry.  The  ministry  is  the  divine  business 
of  rescuing  souls  and  building  them  ujp  in  Christ  to 
the  glory  of  God.  It  is  this  that  we  should  desire,  to 
have  our  desire  any  authentication  of  the  divine  call. 

2.  Is  the  desire  to  preach  to  others  unaccompanied 
by  any  longings  for  personal  holiness  and  nearness  to 
God  ?  If  so,  this  of  itself  should  cast  serious  doubt 
upon  the  motive  prompting  it.  True  desire  for  the 
ministry  will  grow  fervent  as  the  spirit  grows  fervent. 
And  as  the  time  draws  near  for  the  desire  to  be 
realized  the  heart  should  be  found  hungering  for 
deeper  spiritual  experiences  of  divine  grace,  and  leap- 
ing to  enter  upon  the  ministry  as  these  experiences 
are  had. 

A  third  element  certifying  to  the  divine  call  is  the 
possession  of  the  natural  physical  and  mental  qualifi- 
cations. Any  serious  defect  of  voice,  unfitting  for 
effective  public  speaking,  any  serious  bodily  infirmity, 
any  looseness  of  mental  machiner}^  constituting  a 
radical  and  incurable  defect,  should  be  evidence  that 
the  following  of  some  other  pursuit  would  be  more 
likely  to  honour  God  and  to  be  in  the  line  of  His 
purpose. 

A  fourth  element,  certifying  to  the  divine  call,  is 
the  approving  judgment  of  the  Church.  This  publicly 
corroborates  and  authenticates  individual  conviction. 
It  is  certainly  an  element  of  considerable  importance 
in  defining  and  settling  one's  duty.  For  the  personal 
judgment  may  be  blind  and  partial.  There  may  be  a 
sense  of  conviction  and  an  honest,  earnest  desire,  along 


ii6  Related  Ideals 

with  real  unfitness,  because  of  mental  defect  or  idio- 
syncrasy. And  this  defect  may  not  be  patent  to  the 
candidate,  though  very  plain  to  others.  Duty  in  such 
case  is  imperative.  The  Church  should  deal  kindly 
but  frankly  with  the  candidate,  and  make  known  the 
adverse  judgment. 

This  adverse  judgment  should  suggest  a  doubt  of  fit- 
ness^ beyond  all  question  ;  and  lead  to  a  careful  reexain- 
ination  of  the  grounds  of  the  coiimction  that  one  ought 
to  preach,  and  of  the  motives  prompting  the  desire  to 
preach.  If  the  conviction  remains  and  the  desire  too, 
then  the  candidate  may  go  on,  in  spite  of  even  the 
judgment  of  his  best  friends.  If  the  ought  in  his 
bosom  take  on  an  imperiousness,  and  be  of  God,  the 
man  will  get  into  the  ministry  and  God  will  vindicate 
his  right  to  be  there  by  the  power  he  shall  wield  with 
God  and  man. 

The  bearing  of  this  discussion  of  "  the  call "  to  the 
gospel  ministry,  on  ministerial  character  and  eflBciency, 
is  at  once  apparent.  Thoroughly  possess  a  man  with 
the  conviction  that  he  has  been  summoned  to  preach 
the  Gospel  by  a  direct  divine  agency,  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon  himself  the  office  of  a  bishop, 
and  it  cannot  fail  of  spiritualizing  all  his  activities  and 
uplifting  his  whole  life.  If  he  feels  that  God  has 
called  him  into  the  ministry  in  a  way  in  which  men 
are  called  to  no  other  pursuit,  then  at  once  and  for- 
ever it  is  to  him  a  peculiarly  sacred,  a  divine  work, 
not  to  be  undertaken  and  prosecuted,  save  with  an 
active  and  absolute  consecration,  and  to  be  secularized 
or  made  subservient  to  selfish  interests  or  ambitions 
at  the  peril  of  his  soul. 

But  if  he  is  where  he  is,  prompted  by  considerations 


The  "Call"  to  the  Ministry  117 

of  ease,  or  literary  indulgence  or  oratorical  ambition, 
or  social  possibilities ;  or  if  he  is  where  he  is,  the  mere 
child  of  circumstances,  drifted  into  the  ministry  with- 
out any  profound  conviction  or  burning  desire  to 
glorify  God  in  holding  up  to  dying  men  a  crucified 
Christ,  and  in  beseeching  them,  with  a  great  yearning, 
enfolding  tenderness  and  love,  to  be  reconciled  to 
God — O  the  pity  of  it  all !  And  the  shame !  And 
the  sin !  He  may  still  preach  in  a  perfunctory,  me- 
chanical way,  the  letter  of  the  Gospel.  But  his  real 
nature  will  surely  find  a  voice.  And  inevitably  from 
one  and  another  of  his  hearers  will  come  the  words, 
"  What  you  are  speaks  so  loud  that  I  cannot  hear 
what  you  say."  And  what  patience,  what  courage, 
what  steadfastness,  what  power  must  be  born  of  the 
conviction  of  being  called  of  God  !  He  who  can  say, 
''Lord,  I  heard  Thy  call.  It  was  Thou  that  didst 
send  me  " — what  can  he  fear  to  do  or  dare  or  suffer !  ^ 

^See  "Yale  Lectures,"   by  Burton,  on  "resounding"  and  "unre- 
sounding  "  calls,  p.  33. 


X 

THE  STUDENT  IN  THE  MINISTRY 


SYLLABUS 

Introductory. — Spirituality  is  the  vital  trait  of  ministerial  character, 
but  truth  is  for  the  mind.  Ministers  are  to  handle  this  truth  :  to  be 
apt  to  teach. 

1.  The  basic  elements  for  an  ideal  student  in  the  ministry. 

2.  The  quality  of  intellectual  character. 

(a)     Profundity  rather  than  brilliancy. 
(6)     Intensity  rather  than  versatility. 

3.  Certain  powers  of  mind  will  mark  the  ideal  student. 

(a)  He  will  be  receptive. 

(b)  He  will  be  attentive. 

(c)  He  will  be  concentrative. 

(d)  He  will  be  assimilative. 

(e)  He  will  be  many-sided. 

4.  Certain  habits  of  mind  will  mark  the  ideal  student. 

(a)    The  habit  of  diligence. 
(&)     The  habit  of  thoroughness, 
(c)     The  habit  of  method. 

5.  Yet  in  all  this  he  will  not  know  one  secret  of  the  Almighty, 

unless  led  in  all  his  studies,  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 


X 

THE  STUDEJ^T  m  THE  MINISTRY 

SPIRITUALITY  is  the  vital  trait  of  ministerial 
character,  and  should  be  conspicuously  manifest 
in  the  whole  realm  of  thought,  feeling  and  life. 
"Without  it  the  biggest  brain,  the  tenderest  sensibility, 
and  the  intensest  activity  are  as  withes  of  tow  in  smit- 
ing sin  or  resisting  the  devil,  or  making  Christ's  king- 
dom come.  ISTo  mere  intellectual  grasp  of  the  things 
of  God  can  give  spiritual  discernment  or  spiritual 
power. 

But  God's  truth  is  for  the  mind.  God's  ministers 
are  to  handle  this  truth.  They  are  "  to  reason  of 
righteousness,  temperance  and  judgment."  They  are 
to  be  "  apt  to  teach,"  to  be  *'  thoroughly  furnished," 
"  handling  the  word  of  truth,"  and  they  are  "  to  give 
diligence  to  present  themselves  approved  unto  God  " 
in  this  business. 

How  then  shall  we  characterize  the  ideal  student  in 
this  gospel  ministry  ?  Are  there  some  definite  things 
that  we  can  take  hold  of  and  group  together,  and  ^x 
in  our  minds  as  distinctly  of  value  in  helping  us  to  an 
ideal  standard  ? 

1.  The  basic  elements  for  an  ideal  student  in  the 
ministry.  Let  us  say  at  the  very  outset  that  intel- 
lectual eminence^  however  desirable,  is  not  essential. 
The  ministry  furnishes  ample  room  for  the  most  dis- 
tinguished mental  gifts,  but  they  are  not  indispensable 

121 


122  Related  Ideals 

to  an  ideal  ministry.  Given,  however,  a  mind  to 
y)hich  truth  can  easily  he  made  intelligible^  a  mind 
capahle  of  hnprovement^  a  mind  with  nothing  radically 
wanting  in  its  working  machinery,  and  a  mind  com- 
petent to  make  truth  intelligible  to  others^  and  we  have 
the  basic  elements  for  an  ideal  student  in  the  ministry 
of  the  Word.  But  defect  at  this  point  is  radical  de- 
fect, and  the  inevitable  result  would  be  pulpit  im- 
potency,  except  as  God  worked  perpetual  or  frequent 
miracle.  ]^o  young  man  thus  handicapped  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  the  ministry,  whatever  his  im- 
pressions of  a  "  divine  call." 

2.  As  to  the  quality  of  intellectual  character  pos- 
sessed by  the  ideal  student  in  the  ministry :  {a)  it 
should  \iQ  j^rofound  xdX\iQiV  than  brilliant. 

The  brilliant  gifts  lie  more  at  the  surface.  And 
the  best  qualities  of  mind — its  truest,  fullest  capacity — 
cannot  be  developed  b}'"  the  cultivation  of  the  measur- 
ably superficial.  The  minister  should  seek  a  mental 
development  likely  to  ensure  permanence  of  influence 
rather  than  present  popular  impression.  He  is  to 
stand  conspicuously  before  the  same  community  for 
years — three,  five,  ten,  twenty,  thirty  and  possibly 
fifty  years.  What  a  record  of  fidelity  !  And  how 
impossible  of  realization  except  as  he  establishes  him- 
self as  a  power  over  others,  not  only  by  his  godly 
walk  and  conversation,  but  by  laying  the  foundations 
of  his  intellectual  character  broad  and  deep  !  Is  not 
the  lack  of  this  one  of  the  secrets  of  the  frequent 
changes  and  disgraceful "  short-stops"  in  the  pastorate  ? 

While  therefore  the  play  of  fancy,  the  sparkle  of 
wit,  the  charm  of  vivacity,  and  all  the  ready  and  nim- 
ble mental  parts  and  powers,  are  by  no  means  to  be 


The  Student  in  the  Ministry  123 

ignored,  the  student's  chief  and  distinguishing  concern 
in  an  ideal  ministry  will  be  the  development  of  the 
profounder  parts  of  intellectual  character  that  give 
depth  and  breadth. 

(h)  Another  quality  of  intellectual  character  to  be 
coveted  and  cultivated  is  intensity  rather  than  versa- 
tility. A  big  receiving  capacity  that  takes  things  in 
without  doing  much  thinking  about  them,  is  incom- 
parably inferior  to  a  narrow  sesophagus,  admitting 
only  what  can  be  thoroughly  digested.  The  ideal 
student  will  dare  to  be  ignorant  of  some  current  popu- 
lar knowledge,  that  the  best  things  may  be  thoroughly 
mastered.  Let  the  intellectual  character  be  marked 
by  choiceness  and  intensity,  even  at  the  expense  of 
variety.     Avoid  the  foible  of  omniscience  ! 

And  now  having  laid  the  foundations  and  issued  the 
cautions,  let  us  look  at  the  ideal  student,  whether  on 
his  way  to  the  ministry  or  in  the  ministry,  whether  at 
the  door  of  college  or  seminary,  or  just  entering  upon, 
or  in  the  full  prosecution  of,  his  life-work  as  a  preacher 
of  righteousness  and  servant  of  the  most  high  God. 

3.  Certain  powers  of  mind  will  mark  the  ideal 
student. 

(a)     He  will  be  receptive. 

Eagerness  to  know,  thirst  for  knowledge,  is  his  first 
and  vital  quality.  He  is  open-eyed,  open-minded, 
open-hearted,  ready  to  be  taught.  All  the  avenues  to 
his  mind  are  unimpeded,  inviting  approach.  No  self- 
sufficiency,  no  "  big-head."  When  a  man  is  swollen 
with  vanity,  little  else  can  find  room.  To  be  smitten 
with  an  immense  conceit,  is  to  be  as  impervious  to 
ideas  as  a  peacock  is  to  the  song  of  the  lark.  The  bubble 
must  somehow  be  pricked  and  the  self-assurance  abated. 


124  Related  Ideals 

An  old  Scotch  clergyman  of  great  learning  and 
great  common  sense,  had  a  young  sprig  in  theology 
preach  for  him  one  Sabbath.  The  sermon  was  am- 
bitious, soaring,  inflated,  blown  full  with  oratorical 
wind ;  and  when,  after  the  sermon,  the  old  Scotch 
minister  rose  to  pray,  he  said :  "  O  Lord,  bless  Thy 
young  servant,  and  prick  him  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  let  the  gas  out."  To  be  emptied  is  the  road  to 
fullness. 

For  national  illustration  of  this  truth  see  Japan. 
Some  fifty  years  ago  she  determined  to  make  room 
for  whatever  she  could  find  among  the  nations  that 
was  better  than  she  herself  possessed.  She  flung  wide 
her  gates  and  nailed  them  open.  She  welcomed  mis- 
sionaries. Auburn  Seminary  sent  missionary  Verbeck 
through  that  open  door.  He,  with  others,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  counsels  of  the  nations.  He  helped  shape 
her  new  convictions  and  laws.  To-day  Japan  is  work- 
ing out  the  best  ideas  of  the  leading  civilizations,  and 
is  the  surprise  of  the  world. 

Look  at  China  by  contrast.  For  centuries  she  was 
shut  in  by  a  conceit  and  self-sufficiency  that  mounted 
to  heaven — stagnant,  lethargic,  unprogressive,  her 
gates  nailed  shut. 

But  under  Japan's  inspiring  example,  even  China  is 
opening  her  eyes.  Her  great  national  wall  of  exclu- 
sion and  prejudice  is  breaking  down.  She  is  becoming 
receptive  to  modern  ideas.  She  is  entering  into  the 
parliament  of  the  world,  and  ere  long  she  may  be  the 
foremost  of  powers  in  determining  the  currents  of 
history. 

As  the  nation,  so  the  man.  Not  the  least  of  the 
fruits  of  those  social  jubilees  of  mental  victory  which 


The  Student  in  the  Ministry  125 

we  call  our  "  "World's  Fairs,"  is  the  opportunity  they 
furnish  for  open,  teachable  minds.  The  man  that 
visits  them,  eager  to  know,  is  the  man  that  leaves  them 
greatly  enriched  in  stock.  The  ideal  student  any- 
where is  the  receptive  student. 

(h)     The  ideal  student  will  be  attentive. 

He  not  only  takes  things  in  but  knows  them  as  they 
enter.  He  is  observant,  detailed,  definite,  and  there- 
fore intelligent :  not  careless,  hurried,  superficial,  and 
therefore  still  ignorant.  Whether  the  study  be  by 
text-book,  lecture,  sermon,  or  original  research,  the 
profit  of  it  will  be  as  the  attention  given  to  it. 

If  eye  and  mind  are  held  to  whatever  is  in  hand  ;  if 
the  will  commands  eye  and  mind  as  its  servants,  and 
compels  them  to  be  at  their  posts,  wide  awake,  attent, 
discerning — the  unfailing  result  will  be  knowledge. 
And  not  only  knowledge,  but  self-mastery  and  power. 
A  student  knows  what  he  has  seen  or  read  or  studied 
who  knows  it  after  this  fashion. 

Charles  Dickens  says  it  is  a  truth  holding  equally 
good  of  his  own  life,  and  of  the  life  of  every  eminent 
man  he  ever  knew,  that  "  the  only  safe,  serviceable,  cer- 
tain, remunerative,  attainable  quality,  in  every  study 
and  in  every  purpose,  is  the  quality  of  attention." 
"  My  own  invention  or  imagination,"  he  adds,  "  such 
as  it  is,  would  never  have  served  me  as  it  has,  but  for 
this  commonplace,  humble,  patient,  daily-labouring, 
drudging  attention."  Here,  in  part  at  least,  is  the 
secret  of  that  power  which  made  Charles  Dickens  so 
remarkable  as  a  delineator  of  character.  Wherever 
he  went,  this  quality  was  at  its  post.  It  gave  him 
points  of  insight  into  character.  It  discovered  little 
idiosyncrasies.     Where  other  men  would  see  nothing 


126  Related  Ideals 

and  go  away  empty,  he  would  often  see  a  wealth  of 
things,  and  pass  on  laden  with  great  spoil. 

Why  do  some  students  know  so  much  more  than 
others  ?  Why  are  some  students  able  to  tell  what 
they  know  so  much  more  accurately  than  others  ? 
Attention — lack  of  attention ;  that's  the  chief  secret. 
There  will  be  differences  in  native  brain  power,  of 
course.  But  this  "  commonplace,  humble,  patient, 
daily-labouring  attention,"  as  Dickens  calls  it,  accounts 
for  the  most  of  the  contrast.  And  this  is  possible  of  at- 
tainment by  every  mind  fit  to  be  in  the  gospel  ministry. 

"  But  the  lecture  is  dull."  What  of  it  ?  *'  And  the 
lecturer  is  uninteresting."  What  of  it  ?  Attention  ! 
That's  the  divine  order.  Say  to  the  wandering  mind, 
disposed  to  go  wool-gathering,  "  See  here  !  Listen  ! 
The  business  of  this  hour  is  to  listen.  That's  your 
business.  Do  your  business."  It  is  wonderful  what 
mastery  this  will  at  last  give  the  student  over  his  ow^n 
faculties.  But  it  is  more  wonderful  what  discoveries 
it  will  make  of  unguessed  worth  in  the  book  or  the 
subject  or  the  man  studied. 

Professor  D  wight  of  our  college  days  stopped  his 
lecture  one  day  because  he  saw  one  of  the  class  busy 
w4th  a  strange  device  on  the  blackboard  by  which  the 
student  sat ;  and  the  professor  made  that  incident  the 
occasion  of  a  talk  on  the  value  of  attention.  It  im- 
pressed us  profoundly.  The  next  Sabbath  some  of  us 
put  the  talk  to  the  test.  We  applied  it  to  the  sup- 
posedly dull,  prosy  preacher  down  in  the  old  stone 
church.  We  listened.  We  compelled  ourselves  to 
listen.  It  was  a  revelation.  That  preacher  grew 
helpful,  suggestive.  And  he  became  a  formative  force 
to  us  through  the  rest  of  our  college  life. 


The  Student  in  the  Ministry  127 

(c)  The  ideal  student  will  be  concentrative. 

This  quality  is  akin  to  the  last :  but  it  means  some- 
thing more.  It  is  the  faculty  of  using  one's  faculties^ 
focusing  them,  commanding  their  combined  service  for 
a  specific  result.  It  is  also  ih.Q  faculty  of  using  one's 
materials — massing  these  materials,  having  them  at 
command  through  the  law  of  association  and  relative 
suggestion,  and  arranging  and  ordering  them  in  the 
interests  of  climax.  It  is  that  which  gives  intensity  to 
thought  and  speech.  Some  men  are  walking  libraries 
of  digested  information,  but  they  do  not  know  how  to 
focus  their  learning.  Some  men  have  great  vehemence 
of  speech,  but  their  vehemence  has  no  solid  backing  to 
give  it  the  concentrated  essence  of  power.  It  is  the 
concentration  of  materials,  and  the  concentration  of 
mental  powers  in  the  use  of  these  materials,  that  give 
to  speech  intensity  and  that  spell  power  and  victory. 

(d)  But  again ;  the  ideal  student  will  be  assimila- 
tive. 

The  true  student  is  not  a  passive  receiver.  Truths 
and  facts  are  not  taken  into  his  mind  as  coffee  into  a 
bag.  The  coffee  comes  out  of  the  bag  just  as  it  went 
in.  And  whether  the  coffee  goes  in  or  comes  out,  the 
bag  remains  the  same  old  bag.  But  ideas  with  the 
ideal  student  are  compared,  studied,  digested,  assimi- 
lated, and  so  taken  up  into  the  chyle  and  blood  and 
fibre  of  the  mental  and  moral  man.  And  the  man  is 
another,  a  richer,  a  more  fruitful  man  for  each  day's 
study. 

It  is  this  kind  of  studying  that  has  increased  effi- 
ciency, widened  capacity,  multiplied  agency.  It  has 
found  "  tongues  in  trees,  books  in  the  running  brooks, 
sermons  in  stones."     It  has  peopled  seeming  solitudes, 


128  Related  Ideals 

and  drawn  nourishment  from  the  arid  breast  of 
rocks.  It  is  the  kind  of  study  that  makes  what  a  man 
studies  his  own.  And  out  of  the  assimilating  process 
is  born  that  which  blossoms  at  last  into  poem,  or  song, 
or  picture,  or  law,  or  invention  in  art,  or  help  to  in- 
dustry, or  truth  of  reformation,  or  soul-searching 
sermon  that  finds  the  lost  and  brings  him  home  to 
God. 

(e)  But  again:  the  ideal  student  will  be  many- 
sided,  seeking  the  development  of  every  part  of  his 
nature. 

The  life-work  to  which  a  student  for  the  ministry  is 
looking  forward,  is  many-sided,  and  he  must  be  many- 
sided.     The  vast  and  varied  need  he  is  to  face  every 
Sabbath  and  study  every  week  can  only  be  met  by  a 
well-rounded  man.     Some  of  his  flock  will  want  the 
rigid  steps  of  logic  ;  some  the  airy  flights  of  rhetoric 
some  will  want  imagery  ;  some,  plain  matter  of  fact 
some,  simplicity  ;  some,  profundity  ;  some,  illustration 
some,  demonstration ;  some,   poetry ;  some,   history 
some,  the  minutest  details ;  some,  only  broad  generali- 
zations. 

Therefore  proportion,  symmetry,  balance,  and  not 
bulge,  will  mark  the  ideal  student.  He  will  aim  to  be 
well  rounded.  He  will  compel  his  dislikes  to  become 
likes,  his  prejudices  to  become  preferences,  if  the  dis- 
likes and  prejudices  keep  him  from  fields  where  he  can 
get  discipline  or  stock. 

Hence  an  ideal  student  in  the  ministry  cannot  he  a 
specialist.  The  very  word  suggests  limitation,  nar- 
rowness. It  is  contraction  in  order  to  concentration 
indeed ;  but  contraction  nevertheless.  Of  course 
specialists  are  desirable  and  useful — yes,  absolutely  in- 


The  Student  in  the  Ministry  129 

dispensable.  But  they  are  not  the  best  material  for 
the  Christian  ministry.  It  is  too  wide  and  varied  for  a 
specialist.  All  humanity's  needs  are  to  be  met  by  this 
ministry.  The  man  of  God  is  to  be  all  things  to  all 
men  that  he  may  win  some. 

Can  you  by  any  possibility  think  of  Jesus  as  a 
specialist  ?  Is  not  the  very  idea  incongruous  ?  If  you 
say,  Jesus  is  outside  human  limitations,  and  not  to  be 
cited  in  this  connection,  take  Paul,  and  judge  if  by  any 
possibility  he  could  have  been  a  specialist,  and  at  the 
same  time  have  kept  his  many-sidedness  and  rare  adapt- 
ability. He  was  always  and  everywhere  anything  to 
anybody  that  he  might  bring  somebody  to  Jesus 
Christ.  He  could  and  did  preach  both  to  the  Athenian 
philosophers  and  the  rudest  barbarians.  His  imagina- 
tion was  as  lofty  as  his  reason,  and  he  used  each  with 
rare  adaptation  and  power.  His  heart  was  as  big  as 
his  head.  His  prayers  were  as  mighty  as  his  argu- 
ments. His  love  wrapped  poor  sinners  about  with  an 
almost  infinite  tenderness ;  yet  he  was  a  very  Jupiter 
in  the  searching  and  scorching  vehemence  of  his 
righteous  indignation.  Think  of  his  handing  over  the 
shepherding  of  the  Ephesian  flock  and  the  care  of  their 
souls  to  some  young  parish  assistant  like  Timothy, 
while  he  gave  himself  exclusively  to  thundering  from 
his  Ephesian  pulpit !     How  impossible  ! 

Hear  his  own  strong,  conclusive  word  on  this  mat- 
ter: "To  the  Jews  I  became  as  a  Jew,  that  I  might 
gain  Jews.  ...  To  the  weak  I  became  weak  that 
I  might  gain  the  weak.  I  am  become  all  things  to  all 
men  that  I  may  by  all  means  save  some  "  (1  Cor. 
9 :  20-22). 

Surely  sub-division  of  labour  may  be  carried  too  far. 


130  Related  Ideals 

Admit  that  pin-heads  are  a  necessity.  We  can't  well 
get  on  without  them.  But  think  of  a  man's  giving  his 
whole  life  to  the  making  of  pin-heads  !  Now  we  do 
not  need  to  be  told  that  there  are  makers  of  intellec- 
tual pin-heads,  and  that  they  sometimes  get  into  the 
theological  seminary  and  even  into  a  professor's  chair. 
But  these  are  no  patterns  for  men  who  have  given 
themselves  to  the  varied  and  manifold  work  of  the 
ministry.  No !  The  ideal  student  in  the  ministry 
will  be  full-orbed.  The  specialist  may  be  a  good, 
helpful  and  instructive  preacher.  He  never  can  be  an 
ideal  preacher.  The  very  exactions  of  his  specialty 
make  this  impossible. 

4.  The  ideal  student  will  also  be  marked  by  certain 
habits  of  mind  as  distinguished  from  certain  powers  of 
mind. 

{a)     The  habit  of  diligence. 

This  word,  as  the  etymology  denotes,  means  not 
only  industry,  but  industry  inspired  and  sustained  by 
love.  "  The  only  secret  of  true  industry  in  our 
work,"  says  Trench,  "is  our  love  of  that  work."  It  is 
not  the  compelled  service  of  a  man  constrained  to  duty 
by  a  sense  of  obligation  or  the  lashes  of  conscience. 
And  it  is  a  far  remove  from  the  industry  of  the  galley 
slave.  Toil  with  delight,  work  with  the  heart  in  it, 
cheery  industry  ;  this  is  diligence. 

And  this  glad  assiduity  should  be  fixed  and  marked. 
It  should  begin  in  "  the  secret  place,"  when  one  is 
alone  with  God.  It  should  make  its  presence  felt  in 
the  hours  of  stud}^  It  should  accompany  the  preacher 
to  the  pulpit,  and  go  with  him  out  in  the  parish. 

Indolence  in  the  secret  place  of  devotion  is  the 
death  of  effectual  prayer.    The  mQU  who  have  been 


The  Student  in  the  Ministry  131 

mighty  with  God,  used  all  diligence  in  the  devotion 
of  "  the  still  hour."  They  toiled  at  their  praying,  and 
loved  the  toil. 

Indolence  in  the  study  arrests  mental  growth,  and 
leads  finally  to  intellectual  apathy  if  not  atrophy.  No 
amount  of  natural  gift  can  be  a  substitute  for  persistent 
mental  activity. 

Indolence  in  the  pulpit  leads  to  easy,  good-natured, 
lazy,  perfunctory  preaching.  Indolence  in  the  parish 
leads  to  a  sauntering,  superficial,  social  indulging,  fit- 
ful pastoral  visitation. 

Genius  is  a  good  thing.  But  the  habit  of  diligence 
is  a  far  better  thing.  Spurts  and  bursts  and  spas- 
modic exhibition  of  natural  brilliancy  may  temporarily 
dazzle,  and  may  temporarily  succeed  ;  but  the  faithful, 
earnest  and  affectionate  discharge  of  all  duty  will 
secure  the  most  enduring  results  and  bring  most  honour 
to  God.  A  loitering,  lazy  minister  is  one  of  the 
saddest  of  anomalies ;  and  his  wasted  hours  and  op- 
portunities will  make  a  terrible  arraignment  when  ac- 
counts come  to  be  settled. 

(h)  The  habit  of  thoroughness,  will  also  mark  the 
ideal  student. 

The  temptation  is  urgent  and  constant  with  the 
minister  to  spread  his  reading  and  study  over  a  wide 
field,  in  view  of  its  manifest  desirableness  and  often  its 
seeming  necessity.  But  quantity  at  the  expense  of 
quality  has  little  value  in  it.  Better  far  less  work 
with  the  fullest  justice,  than  more  work  indifferently 
accomplished.  A  mill  may  be  stopped  by  too  much 
water  as  well  as  by  not  enough.  To  have  a  limited 
field  and  to  be  an  authority  in  it,  is  better  than  to 
have  a  wide  field  and  be  an  authority  for  nothing. 


132  Related  Ideals 

> 

Thoroughness  !  Throughness  !  It  will  make  a  man 
stand  before  kings. 

{c)     Method  will  also  characterize  the  ideal  student. 

One  can  carry  twice  more  weight  when  it  is  compact 
and  well-arranged.  One  can  do  twofold  more  work 
where  method  rules,  than  where  disorder  reigns.  It  is 
systematic  toil  that  has  changed  the  face  of  the  world. 
Months  of  precious  time  are  wasted  in  precious 
minutes.  And  a  life  without  a  plan  will  inevitably 
be  crowded  with  wasted  minutes. 

One  half  hour  saved  each  working  day  of  the  year, 
seems  a  comparative  trifle  rescued  from  loss.  And 
many  a  minister,  heedless  of  these  half  hours,  is 
wondering  where  his  time  goes,  and  is  sighing  for 
more.  But  these  half  hours  slipping  from  him  every 
day,  as  if  of  small  account,  make  up  a  total  in  ten 
years  amounting  to  Jive  hoiors  of  study  each  day  for 
one  entire  year.  In  other  words,  a  year  of  study  has 
been  lost  in  ten  years  of  daily  wasted  half-hours. 

Method  has  a  season  for  everything,  and  hence  there 
is  no  loss  of  time  by  confusion. 

Method  prevents  waste  by  indecision  and  hesitation 
as  to  what  ought  to  be  done  next. 

Method  prevents  waste  by  aimlessness. 

Method  makes  every  stroke  tell,  and  go  to  the 
furtherance  of  some  predetermined  plan. 

Yet  method  should  not  he  inflexible.  No  plan  of 
life,  no  distribution  of  time,  no  methodical  arrange- 
ment of  work  should  be  so  rigid  as  to  dispense  with 
judgment  and  make  a  man  a  machine. 

"  The  man  that  never  breaks  a  rule 
Is  little  better  than  a  fool." 


The  Student  in  the  Ministry  133 

6.  And  now  let  it  be  said  with  all  possible  emphasis 
that  a  student  in  the  ministry  may  be  all  that  has  been 
named — receptive,  attentive,  concentrative,  assimila- 
tive, many-sided — and  he  may  have  the  habit  of  dili- 
gence and  thoroughness  and  method  ;  and  yet  be  totally 
unfit  for  conveying  God's  truth  to  dying  men.  There 
are  secrets  of  truth  he  can  never  know  unless  he  is 
taught,  and  led  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Filled  of  the  Spirit, 
illuminated  by  the  Spirit,  he  must  be,  or  be  a  blind 
leader  of  the  blind  :  the  truths  he  daily  faces  and 
handles  proving  mere  cold  intellectual  notions,  gotten 
into  his  head ;  and  never,  never  the  faintest  approach 
to  spiritual  dynamics  vitalizing  his  speech  and  life. 
He  may  have  been  glib  in  the  recitation  room,  rattling 
off  the  letter  of  the  doctrines  of  God ;  he  may  have 
been  the  banner  man  of  his  class,  and  won  a  fellow- 
ship, and  gone  to  Europe  for  post-graduate  scholarly 
work;  and  he  may  be  now  a  perfect  storehouse  of 
Greek  and  Hebrew  roots,  and  loaded  to  the  full  with 
the  fruits  of  original  research,  and  yet  not  know  one 
secret  of  the  Almighty,  unless  day  by  day  he  has 
found  his  way  to  God  and  prayed,  "  Open  Thou  mine 
eyes,  that  I  may  behold  wondrous  things  out  of  Thy 
law,"  and  has  gotten  that  prayer  ansioered. 

The  deep  necessity^  the  everlasting  condition^  the 
crowning  glory  of  the  ideal  student  is  this — that  he  he 
led  in  all  his  studies  hy  the  Holy  Spirit. 


XI 

THE  MINISTER'S  STUDY 


SYLLABUS 

Introductory. — Local  conditions  may  put  limitations  on  choice; 
nevertheless  common  ground  may  be  found  for  basis  of  judgment. 
I.     As  to  locality  or  place  where. 

(a)     The  study  should  be  easily  accessible,  yet  free  from 

ordinary  intrusion. 
(6)     Needs  no  outlook,  but  should  have  good  exposure. 
II.    As  to  size. 

Thinking  does  not  want  much  space ;  brain  cells  are  not 
big,  but  they  are  roomy  enough  for  the  widest  and 
deepest  thinking.  The  very  words  we  apply  to  "the 
study"  such  as  "den,"  "workshop,"  "retreat,"  in- 
dicate its  limitations. 

III.  The  books  in  an  ideal  study. 

(a)     Books  that  will  open  up  the  varied  mines  of  truth 

are  desirable. 
(J)     Books  that  will  help  in  seeking  and  finding  the  great 

spoil  of  Scripture  are  indispensable. 

IV.  Books  that  should  grow  in  the  ideal  study. 

A  scrap-book;  a  commonplace  book;  a  text-book  ;  a  lec- 
ture-room-talk book  ;  and  a  record  book. 
V.    Buying  books. 

(a)     Buy  first  the  essential  helps  in  critical  study,  and 

the  recognized  standards. 
(6)     Buy  no  book  because  it  is  cheap. 
(c)     Buy  no  book  merely  on  a  publisher's  notice. 
VI.     Reading  books. 

(a)     Read  with  pencil  in  hand  ;  mark  striking  passages ; 

make  marginal  notations. 
(6)     "Abandon  as  early  as  possible  the  childish  dream  of 

reading  everything." 
(c)    Object  of  reading  should  determine  manner  of  read- 
ing. 


(1)  For  general  drift,  read  rapidly ;  (2)  For 
style,  read  carefully;  (3)  For  suggestion,  read 
thoughtfully;  (4)  For  exact  information, 
weigh  every  word;  (5)  For  devotional  pur- 
poses, yield  to  the  current  of  religious  emotion  ; 
(6)     For  relaxation,  read  according  to  mood. 

VII.     Studying  books. 

(a)     Read  first  of  all  preface,  table  of  contents,  and  intro- 
duction. 
(6)     Be  sure  to  understand  the  author  as  reading  proceeds. 

(c)  If    author   fails  to  convince   the  judgment,    reader 

should  pause  and  find  out  at  what  points  he  and 
author  differ  and  why. 

(d)  Compare  author  with  other  authors  on  same  subject. 
VIII.     It  is  in  the  spiritual  realm  the  ideal  study  comes  to  its  crown 

and  glory  as  the  minister's  "  Mount  of  Vision." 
IX.     Value  of  revolving  bookcase  and  hanging  ahelf. 


> 


XI 

THE  MIOTSTEE'S  STUDY 

THE  ideal  student  is  naturally  suggestive  of  the 
ideal  study.  But  they  do  not  necessarily  go 
together.  Conditions  make  strange  bedfel- 
lows. Stress  of  finance,  lack  of  room,  parish  adjust- 
ments put  limitations  on  choice,  and  make  absolute 
ideals  sometimes  impossible,  even  in  so  seemingly 
limited  a  matter  as  a  ministerial  workshop.  And  an 
ideal  study  for  one  man  might  be  far  from  ideal  for 
another  man.^ 

Nevertheless,  it  must  surely  be  possible  to  find 
common  ground  for  a  basis  of  judgment  on  this  im- 
portant matter,  and  where  at  least  common  agreement 
may  be  reached,  as  to  much  that  shall  go  to  make  up 
an  ideal  study. 

I.    Its  Locality. 
The  jplace  where  is  a  matter  of  no  little  importance. 
Shall  it  be  in  the  church  ?  or  in  the  home  ?     In  de- 
termining locality  two  things  are  to  be  kept  in  view  : 
that  the  study  must  be  easily  accessible  and  yet  must 

^  "Dr.  Storrs  had  three  studies.  His  home  study  was  a  small  room, 
with  a  few  books,  at  the  end  of  the  parlour  hall,  in  the  quiet,  red-brick 
house  in  Pierrepont  Street,  Brooklyn.  In  the  Long  Island  Historical 
Society,  of  which  he  was  founder,  president,  and  constant  inspiration, 
he  had  his  private  room  up-stairs,  with  attendance  upon  his  needs  and 
with  thousands  of  books  at  his  hand.  But  the  favourite  study  was  in 
his  beloved  church  in  Remsen  Street,  in  the  rear,  up  one  flight  of 
broad  steps,  where  the  great  trees  shaded  the  windows  softly.  There 
he  would  be  nearly  every  day,  reading,  thinking,  deep  in  study." 

139 


1^0  Related  Ideals 

he  free  from  ordinary  i7itrusion.  Emergent  occasions 
will,  now  and  then,  and  sometimes  frequently,  arise 
in  the  parish,  making  an  immediate  interview  with 
the  pastor  almost  a  necessity.  If  he  is  perched  in  a 
steeple-loft  or  tower,  with  the  door  below  locked,  he 
may  miss  meeting  a  real  necessity  or  a  golden  op- 
portunity. Moreover,  a  study  outside  of,  and  at  a 
distance  from,  the  home,  necessitates  many  incon- 
veniences to  the  home  and  the  family.  On  the  whole, 
the  preponderance  of  reasons  seems  in  favour  of  the 
home,  as  the  place  for  the  ideal  study. 

But  while  thus  easily  accessible,  it  should  be  ab- 
solutely free  from  ordinary  intrusion.  Never  should 
it  be  an  open  family  highway.  And  never  a  place  for 
a  romp  of  the  children,  except  by  special  appointment 
or  permission.  For  some  holy  intimacies,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  child-life,  it  should  be  kept  especially 
sacred.  It  would  grow  hallowed  in  memory,  and  un- 
speakably precious,  in  the  progress  of  years,  if  known 
as  the  place  for  the  family  altar. 

As  to  an  outlook,  it  needs  none.  It  is  the  room  of 
all  others  for  inlook.  It  is  a  study.  And  what  does 
a  study  want  of  scenery,  whether  of  mountain  or 
river,  landscape  or  sea  ?  Intellectual  and  spiritual 
insight,  the  man  of  God  is  there  for.  Vision — vision 
of  God  and  of  God's  truth.  He  enters  his  study  to 
delve  in  books,  to  commune  with  the  great  minds  of 
the  past  and  the  present,  and  to  look  long  and  lovingly 
into  the  glass  of  the  Word  to  discover  some  new  revela- 
tion of  his  Lord  there.  He  is  not  after  flowers  and 
fields,  and  stretches  of  beautiful  landscape.  His  face 
is  heavenward,  God  ward.  He  would  see  "  the  King 
in  His  beauty." 


The  Minister's  Study  141 

But  the  ideal  study  will  have  a  good  exposure^  that 
two  things  may  get  into  it  which  are  absolutely  vital 
to  its  ideality  ;  viz.,  sunshine  aiud  pure  air.  Let  it  be 
flooded  some  time  in  the  day,  whether  morning  or 
evenintr,  with  God's  blessed  sunbeams,  and  let  it  be 
flooded  all  the  day  with  God's  pure  air.  A  gloomy 
study  is  not  conducive  to  a  hopeful  spirit.  And  a 
close  atmosphere  is  the  occasion  of  many  a  dyspeptic 
sermon. 

II.  The  Size  of  the  Ideal  Study 

The  very  word,  "  study,"  suggests  retirement, 
quiet,  concentration,  absorption.  Thinking  does  not 
want  much  space.  The  immense  sweeps  of  thought 
do  not  feel  the  confinement  of  four  walls.  Brain  cells 
are  not  big,  but  they  are  roomy  enough  for  the  high- 
est, widest,  deepest  thinking.  The  very  terms  we 
apply  to  "  the  study "  suggest  this  same  idea.  It 
is  the  minister's  "  den  " — his  "  workshop  " — his  "  re- 
treat." Think  of  a  "den"  taking  up  the  biggest 
space  of  any  room  in  the  house.  Think  of  a  "  work- 
shop "  with  auditorium  proportions.  Think  of  a 
minister's  "  retreating  "  to  a  great  council  chamber. 
But  does  not  a  growing  library  demand  more  and 
more  room  ?  Certainly.  But  not  by  expanding  the 
"  study."  Let  the  books  find  more  shelf-room  out  in 
the  adjacent  hall,  in  the  reception  room,  anywhere 
for  convenient  use.  A  great  library  needs  large 
spaces,  and  must  have  them.     An  ideal  study  is  a  den. 

III.  The  Books  in  an  Ideal  Study 

A  study  is  nothing  worth  without  hooks.  Every 
minister  of  the  Gospel  expects,  in  the  course  of  time. 


142  Related  Ideals 

to  surround  himself  with  books.  And  he  purposes, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  to  grow  more  and  more  familiar 
with  the  Book  of  books.  Every  minister  should  there- 
fore have  a  study  that  will  help  him  to  be  something 
of  a  bibliographer,  and  very  much  of  a  hihlicist. 

To  be  a  bibliographer,  versed  in  the  general  knowl- 
edge of  books,  is  well.  To  be  a  biblicist,  versed  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  Book  of  books,  is  indispensable. 
To  delve  in  the  various  mines  of  truth  is  desirable. 
To  seek  and  find  the  great  spoil  of  Scripture  is  vital. 
Therefore,  while  seeking  to  be  a  scholar,  the  preacher 
should  be,  by  eminence,  a  biblical  scholar.  In  this 
department,  his  knowledge  of  books  should  be  ex- 
ceptional. He  should  make  it  a  specialty.  It  is  the 
sine  qua  non  of  an  ideal  ministry.  Weakness  here, 
is  weakness  at  the  foundation.  Ignorance  here,  is 
inexcusable  folly.  The  Bible  is  not  only  the 
preacher's  daily  manual  of  devotion,  but  his  great 
and  only  book  of  subjects ;  his  authoritative  letter 
of  instructions  ;  his  one  exclusive  treasury  of  spiritual 
truths.  Everything  that  can  throw  light  on  this 
should  be  at  his  command.  Necessity  may  compel 
him  to  let  other  departments  go.  But  for  neglect 
of  this  department,  there  can  be  no  necessity. 

First  of  all,  therefore,  the  books  vital  to  an  "ideal 
study  "  will  be  critical  apparatus,  biblical  helps,  the 
literature  that  directly  conduces  to  biblical  learning — 
the  books  that  tend  to  make  the  minister  a  devout, 
able,  scholarly  student  and  preacher  of  the  mysteries 
of  God.  These  should  be  known  and,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, possessed  by  every  minister  of  the  Gospel. 

After  these,  in  importance,  will  be  books  of  phi- 
losophy, history,  science  and  art,  of  general  literature, 


The  Minister's  Study  143 

of  poetry  and  fiction,  of  social  and  civic  life,  of  com- 
merce and  industry,  of  labour  and  capital. 

But  all  tliese,  and  all  otiier  acquisitions  in  the  ideal 
study,  will  be  for  the  one  purpose  of  making  the 
student  a  more  effective  preacher  of  God's  Word. 
All  culture  will  be  subordinated  to  professional 
eflSciency.  The  ideal  student  in  the  ideal  study 
will  sink  the  man  of  learning  in  the  preacher.  He 
will  determine  that  no  charms  of  secular  erudition, 
no  alluring  paths  of  classical  literature,  no  popular 
*'  ologies  "  or  *'  isms,"  shall  tempt  him  to  their  pur- 
suit, if  from  them  he  may  not,  in  some  way,  learn 
how  better  to  declare  God's  truth  to  dving:  men: 
that  if  they  cannot  help  him  to  that,  they  shall  not 
have  either  his  time  or  thought.  And  he  will  test  all 
study  by  this  question.  Will  it  contribute  to  the  effi- 
ciency of  my  ministry  ?  He  will  arrest  the  reading 
or  the  investigation  that  absorbs  his  time,  without 
correspondingly  fitting  him  for  his  chosen  work. 
He  will  resolutely  put  under  foot  all  desire  for  the 
fame  of  secular  authorship.  In  everything  under- 
taken with  books,  he  will  keep  the  one  sacred  object 
in  view — better  preparation  for  the  great,  unspeak- 
able work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  and  saving  the 
lost.  No  pursuit  of  science,  histor}^  or  literature 
for  its  own  sake ;  no  reading  of  any  book,  no  grap- 
pling with  any  social,  civic,  or  religious  problems, 
save  for  some  good  reason  connected  with  his  ministry. 

ly.  Books  that  should  grow  in  the  ideal  study — 
a  scrap-book,  a  commonplace  book,  a  text-book,  a 
lecture-room-talk  book,  and  a  record  book.  These 
five  books  cannot  be  found  at  the  bookstore.  ISTo 
money  can   buy  them.     They  are  products  of  expe- 


144  Related  Ideals 

rience ;  records  of  work  done  and  to  be  done ;  in  a 
sense,  personal  histories  and  prophecies.  They  can- 
not be  made  to  order.  They  are  growths.  They  are 
blank-books  when  a  minister  begins  with  them.  They 
will  become  bank-books,  before  he  is  through  with 
them,  with  ever-increasing  balance  to  his  credit  upon 
which  he  can  draw  at  will,  if  they  have  been  kept 
with  any  kind  of  discriminating  care. 

The  scrap-hooJc  ^  should  be  the  receptacle  of  every 
chance  newspaper  article  deemed  for  any  reason 
worth  preserving.  The  article  or  paragraph  should 
be  cut  out  as  soon  as  read,  and  placed  loosely  in  some 
drawer  or  pigeonhole  ;  otherwise,  it  is  likely  to  be 
forgotten  or  lost.  The  pasting  may  be  deferred  for 
an  accumulation  of  articles,  and  some  leisure  half-hour. 

This  book  may  be  a  sort  of  hodge-podge.  But  clas- 
sification is  better,  even  of  scissorings — as  for  ex- 
ample :  (1)  Incidents ;  (2)  Illustrations ;  (3)  Statis- 
tical items — (<^)  Of  crime  ;  (h)  Of  charities  ;  (c)  Of 
intemperance,  etc. ;  (4)  Scientific  items ;  (5)  Eccle- 
siastical items ;  (6)  Poetry. 

A  great  many  things  to  point  a  moral,  or  to  fortify 
a  possible  position,  or  to  give  vividness  to  a  desired 
impression,  may  be  laid  away  in  a  scrap-book.  If  he 
who  picks  up  a  pin  is  sure  to  find  some  use  for  it,  he 
who  seizes  and  lodges  for  safe-keeping  a  floating,  but 
significant,  fact  or  figure,  will  be  sure  to  find  some  use 
for  that. 

If,  in  addition  to  the  general  scrap-book,  a  personal 

*  The  envelope  system  may  be  thought  a  better  scrap-preserver,  and 
it  has  its  advantages.  But  for  ease  of  reference  and  security  of  preser- 
vation the  scrap-book  is  perhaps  preferable.  Either,  if  rightly  used, 
will  do  the  business. 


The  Minister's  Study  145 

scrap-book*  is  kept,  it  will  be  found  to  be  frequently 
and  happily  serviceable.  Personal  participations  in 
public  functions,  discussions,  controversial  and  other- 
wise, travels,  vacationings,  comments  on  public  events, 
criticisms  of  one's  self,  public  appearances,  exchanges, 
etc. — all  these,  with  tlieir  dates,  will  be  of  very  con- 
siderable value  in  the  coming  years  ;  correcting  many 
a  memory,  confirming  many  an  impression,  even  some- 
times settling  what  might  otherwise  have  proved  a 
very  serious  controversy ;  and  above  all,  perhaps, 
renewing  some  hallowed,  tender  associations  that 
left  their  deep  impress  without  perpetuating  their 
details. 

The  commonplace  hooh  should  be  for  the  minister's 
own  miscellaneous  and  fleeting  thoughts,  suggested  by 
reading  and  observation,  or  the  fruit  of  chance  medi- 
tation. Many  a  good  thought  is  *'  born  to  blush  un- 
seen," because  it  is  neglected  and  forgotten  almost 
with  the  hour  of  its  birth.  If  it  were  given  verbal 
dress,  and  put  away  in  a  commonplace  book,  it  might 
not  grow,  but  it  would  keej>,  and  some  day  it  would 
be  of  service.  Into  this  book  should  also  go  the  strik- 
ing thoughts  and  terse  sayings  of  others,  heard  in 
public  speech  or  gotten  from  books  only  temporarily 
at  one's  command. 

The  text-booh  should  be  paged  and  indexed,  and  should 
have  a  classification  of  topics  ;  appropriate  space  being 

^If  the  author  may  be  permitted  a  personal  note,  he  would  say 
that  he  has  five  such  personal  scrap-books  in  possession,  compiled 
chiefly  by  her  who  has  shared  all  the  duties  and  delights  of  his  minis- 
terial life,  and  that  these  personal  scrap-books  have  been  not  only 
valuable  helps  to  memory,  where  accuracy  of  statement  was  valuable, 
but  illuminating  in  reminiscence,  sacred  in  many  an  association,  and 
profitable  both  for  their  commendation  and  rebuke. 


146  Related  Ideals 

assigned  to  each  topic.  Then,  whenever  in  reading, 
hearing  or  meditating,  a  text  of  Scripture  stirs  the 
mind  with  fresh  and  special  interest,  it  should  immedi- 
ately be  transferred  to  the  text-book  under  the  ap- 
propriate topic,  together  with  whatever  theme  or  thought 
or  plans  of  treatment  have  been  suggested  with  it.  In 
this  way,  varied  and  valuable  materials  will,  in  time, 
be  gathered  for  future  sermons. 

The  lecture-roomrtalk  hook.  This  should  contain  the 
salient  points  of  every  talk  made  in  the  mid-week 
service,  or  on  miscellaneous  occasions.  Any  talk  of 
this  kind  worth  making  is  ^vorth  preserving.  It  may 
be  subsequently  elaborated,  and  made  the  foundation 
and  substance  of  a  sermon.  It  would  certainly  pre- 
vent the  often  dangerous  tendency  of  running  in  a 
groove,  or  harping  on  one  string.  The  book  might  w^ell 
have  at  least  three  divisions  ;  mid-week  prayer-meeting 
talks  ;  Sabbath-school  talks  ;  miscellaneous  talks. 

The  record  hook.  This  should  be  aside  from  the 
church  records,  and  for  the  minister's  own  use  and 
possession.  It  should  contain  a  record  of  sermons  by 
texts  and  topics,  numbered  in  the  order  preached,  a 
record  of  marriages  performed,  of  baptisms,  and, 
above  all,  a  record  of  the  names  of  those  received  into 
the  church  on  profession  of  faith,  as  having  been  born 
to  God  under  his  ministry ;  this  last  being  one  of  the 
most  sacred  associations  of  life. 

These  are  the  books  that  should  grow  in  every  ideal 
study. 

y.    Buying  Books 

In  hiiying  books  for  the  ideal  study,  no  extended 
list  can  be  authoritatively  given.  Tastes  differ — fields 
differ.     ThQ  personal  equation  is  an  important  matter. 


The  Minister's  Study  147 

The  immediate  needs  and  the  permanent  needs  are  to 
be  considered. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  the  essential  helps  in 
critical  study,  and  the  recognized  standards,  are  of 
the  first  importance.  Books  that  bear  directly  upon 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  that  make  up  the 
minister's  critical  apparatus  and  helps  in  exegesis,  are 
the  sine  qua  non  of  an  ideal  study. 

No  book  is  to  be  bought  simply  because  it  is  cheap. 
A  book  for  which  is  seen  no  special  use,  is  dear  at  any 
price.  Haste  to  have  a  large  library  makes  lots  of 
waste.  You  cannot  get  an  ideal  library  hy  the  yard. 
Standard  books  of  reference  should  be  bought  as  far 
and  as  fast  as  possible.     They  are  always  needed. 

But  a  few  books  for  which  there  is  seen  immediate 
need  will  be  worth  a  thousandfold  more  to  the 
preacher  than  many  books  hurriedly  got  together, 
and  often  under  real  financial  stress,  prompted  by  the 
foolish  ambition  of  starting  with  a  fine  library.  The 
ambition  is  born  of  parade  and  show.  What  are 
books  to  a  man,  if  he  does  not  get  inside  them  ? 

The  books  of  an  ideal  library,  it  may  be  further 
said,  will  not  be  bought  merely  on  a  jpiihlisTier* s 
notice^  no  matter  with  what  flourish  of  trumpets  her- 
alded. This  is  by  no  means  an  implication  that  pub- 
lishers are  dishonest ;  but  they  are  not  always  the 
best  judges  of  their  own  wares. 

The  approving  judgment  of  time  is  the  best  judg- 
ment. But  this  cannot  always  be  ^vaited  for.  Re- 
liable book  notices — scholarly,  thorough,  impartial — 
are  a  great  help  in  book-buying.  And  some  publish- 
ing houses,  some  periodicals,  and  some  papers,  both 
secular  and   religious,  have  an  established  reputation 


148  Related  Ideals 

in  this  department.  At  least  two  such  authorities  in 
book-reviewing  should  be  subscribed  for,  and  will  have 
warm  welcome  to  every  ideal  study,  and  they  will  not 
need  to  knock  in  order  to  get  in. 

Charles  Wentworth  Diike,  the  founder  of  The 
Athenmum,  and  an  important  influence  in  the  develop- 
ment of  modern  English  literature,  once  said,  "  A 
library  is  nothing  unless  the  owner  be  a  living  cata- 
logue to  it."  And,  illustrative  of  this,  is  the  story  of 
what  his  son's  wife  once  wrote  to  him  :  "  There  are 
all  your  old  Juniuses,  looking  so  smart  you  will  not 
know  them ;  bound  according  to  your  own  instruc- 
tions ;  no  two  alike.  What  a  dandy  you  are  without 
knowing  it !  a  real  dandy  at  heart !  "  To  which  he 
answered,  "  Half-truth,  half-error.  I  am  a  dandy,  but 
quite  conscious  of  it.  .  .  .  You  have  drawn  right 
conclusions  from  wrong  premises.  My  Junius  volumes 
are  bound,  *no  two  alike,'  that  I  may  know  each  one 
at  a  glance.  But  I  admit  I  have  a  sort  of  social  life 
in  my  books.  They  stand  to  me  in  degrees  of  rela- 
tionship. I  feel  to  some  of  them  as  towards  old 
friends.  ...  I  have  a  heartful  acquaintance  with 
some  of  them.  .  .  .  They  were  once  weighed 
against  gold.  .  .  .  Many  and  many  a  day  have  1 
tramped  the  same  streets  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  same 
treasure,  turned  and  returned,  and  at  last  with  des- 
perate resolution  carried  it  off  with  triumph."  This 
suggests  a  reported  mot  of  Euf us  Choate's,  that  "  the 
greatest  pleasure  in  life  is  buying  a  book  you  cannot 
afford." 

YI.    Reading  Books 

{a)  In  reading  books,  read  with  pencil  in  hand. 
Mark    striking    passages.     If  important,   repeat   the 


The  Minister's  Study  149 

reading.  Make  marginal  notations  that  will  readily 
strike  the  eye  when  the  leaves  are  turned  again.  And 
pay  all  heed  to  the  wise  words  of  Broadus :  (J) 
"  Abandon  as  early  as  possible  the  childish  dream  of 
reading  everything."  ^ 

(g)  The  ohject^  in  reading  books,  should  determine 
the  manner  of  reading.  If  reading  for  the  general 
drift,  read  rapidly.  If  for  style,  read  carefully,  with 
an  eye  to  the  structure  of  the  sentence  as  connected 
with  the  impression  produced.  If  for  suggestion,  read 
thoughtfully,  pausing  to  allow  the  mind  play.  If  for 
exact  information,  weigh  every  word,  stamping  it 
upon  the  memory  by  a  fixed  and  undivided  attention. 
If  for  devotional  purposes,  drop  all  criticism  and  yield 
to  the  current  of  religious  emotion.  If  for  relaxation, 
read  as  the  mood  inclines  ;  only  be  sure  to  guard 
against  an  overdose.  "  Excessive  recreation  is  de- 
struction." 

In  the  matter  of  studying  books,  certain  things  seem 
to  deserve  emphasis  as  connected  with  the  ideal  study. 

Suppose  a  book  is  selected  for  special  study : 
What  steps  shall  be  taken  to  secure  thoroughness  ? 
In  any  ideal  study,  will  not  these  following  points 
have  place  ? 

{a)  Kead  first  of  all  and  very  carefully  the  preface, 
the  table  of  contents  and  the  introduction.  These 
will  give  at  once  the  reasons  for  the  work,  the  plan  of 
it,  and  the  approach  to  it — three  things  that  ought  to 
be  of  real  service  in  any  proper  understanding  of  a 
book  worth  studying. 

{b)    Let   the  student   be  sure  he  understands  the 
author  as  he  proceeds.     He  who  bolts  books  as  some 
*  **  Preparation  and  Delivery  of  Sermons,"  Broadus,  p.  124. 


150  Related  Ideals 

men  bolt  food  will  ruin  mental  digestion.  And  be 
who  passes  a  point  or  a  page  of  an  autbor  witbout 
knowing  just  wbat  be  means,  will  be  likely  to  be  in  a 
fog,  or  something  worse,  through  the  entire  remaining 
discussion.  Pause,  therefore,  and  review  till  the 
meaning  is  perfectly  apprehended.  Frederick  W. 
Robertson  so  studied  Plato,  Aristotle,  Thucydides, 
Butler,  Jonathan  Edwards,  that  he  could  ssiy  they 
had  passed,  like  the  iron  atoms  of  the  blood,  into  bis 
mental  constitution.  He  once  wrote  :  "  I  have  got 
a  small,  popular  book  on  chemistry,  which  I  am  read- 
ing now,  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  pages.  I  have  read 
little  else  for  a  fortnight :  but  then  I  could  bear  an 
examination  on  every  law  and  principle  it  lays  down." 
A  distinguished  English  barrister.  Sir  Edward 
Sugden,  gave  the  following  as  the  secret  of  his  pro- 
fessional success  :  "  I  resolved,  when  beginning  to 
read  law,  to  make  everything  I  acquired  perfectly  my 
own ;  and  never  to  go  to  a  second  thing  till  I  had 
entirely  accomplished  the  first."  Such  a  man  never 
skims  ;  never  flits  over  the  surface  ;  thoroughly  under- 
stands as  he  proceeds. 

(c)  If  the  author  does  not  carry  the  student's  judg- 
ment, let  the  student  find  out  exactly  at  what  point 
he  and  the  author  differ,  and  why.  This  will  be 
likely  to  reveal  either  the  author's  fallacy,  or  his  own. 

(d)  Compare  the  author  studied  with  other  authors 
on  the  same  subject.  Light  from  various  sources  can- 
not fail  of  illuminating  the  field  of  discussion.  And 
this  comparison  of  author  with  author  will  familiarize 
the  reader  with  diverse  and  conflicting  views,  and 
lead  to  a  broader  and  more  comprehensive  judgment. 

But  it  is  in  the  spiritual  realm,  in  the  possibilities 


The  Minister's  Study  151 

of  devotional  ujplift  and  spiritual  vision  and  power^ 
that  the  ideal  study  coraes  to  its  crown  and  glory ! 
It  should  be  oftenest  the  minister-s  mount  of  vision, 
his  inner  secret  room,  where  he  keeps  tryst  with  his 
Lord,  his  ford-Jabbok  wrestling-place,  his  laboratory, 
his  holy  of  holies.  Here  he  will  meet  God — here,  or 
nowhere.  Here  he  will  grow  familiar  with  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit,  that  he  may  go  out  and  use  it  to  cleave 
souls  asunder.  Here  he  is  to  commune  with  the  great 
minds  of  the  past,  so  that,  in  the  intellectual  and  spir- 
itual fellowship  thus  furnished,  he  may  be  the  more 
enriched  for  his  work.  Here  he  is  to  get  upliftings 
and  inspirations,  sometimes  making  it  seem  as  if  he 
were  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven.  Here  he  is  to 
bring  to  God  the  great  needs  of  his  people — their 
hungerings,  battlings,  defeats,  heartaches,  and  personal 
histories.  Here  he  is  to  think  for  them,  plan  for  them, 
pray  for  them,  with  strong  crying  and  tears,  and 
when  away  from  all  human  presence,  face  to  face  with 
God  and  eternity.  Here  he  is  to  kneel  with  the  bur- 
den of  still  unsaved  souls,  and  cast  his  burden  on  the 
Lord,  to  find  the  Lord  mighty  to  save.  Here  he  is  to 
prepare  his  bow  and  select  his  arrow  from  the  quiver, 
and  get  it  winged  of  the  invisible  God,  that  it  may  go 
straight  home  to  some  sinner's  heart. 

O  what  throes  of  labour,  what  toil  of  brain,  what 
struggle  and  anguish  of  spirit,  what  joys  unutterable, 
what  visions  of  God,  what  victories  of  faith,  have  toil- 
ing, praying,  wrestling  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  ex- 
perienced in  their  studies  !  There  they  have  climbed 
the  heights  and  got  into  the  secret  place  of  the 
Most  High,  and  taken  Jacob-like  hold  of  God,  saying, 
"  I  will  not  let  Thee  go,  except  Thou  bless  me." 


152  Related  Ideals 

So  what  the  study  is  to  every  pastor,  he  will  be 
likely  to  be  to  his  people.  If  the  study  bring  revela- 
tion to  him,  he  will  bring  revelation  to  his  hearers. 
If  there  he  gets  power,  in  the  pulpit  he  will  have 
power.  If  he  finds  nothing  in  the  study,  the  people 
will,  ere  long,  find  nothing  in  the  pulpit. 

Hence,  the  "  ideal  study  "  will  have  a  shelf  or  section 
given  up  wholly  to  books  designed  for,  and  adapted  to, 
spiritual  nurture  and  the  life  of  the  soul.  Of  course,  a 
Bible  will  be  in  this  section — preferably  di  particular 
Bible,  kept  always  on  its  own  shelf,  and  kept  solely 
for  spiritual  nurture,  thumbed  more  often  than  any 
other  book  of  devotion,  and  margined  everywhere 
with  pointers  to  its  treasury  of  devotional  expression, 
and  holding  supreme  and  unchallengeable  place  in  any 
cluster  of  "  helps  "  to  devout  and  reverent  speech  in  talks 
with  God.  How  the  "  delicatessen  "  things  that  are 
"got  up"  and  "made  to  order,"  as  "forms"  of  prayer 
for  weekly  public  worship,  suffer  by  comparison  with 
the  prayers  that  are  born  of  heart-hunger  and  yearn- 
ing and  sense  of  present  need.  Even  the  prayer  given 
us  by  our  Lord,  and  most  often  on  our  lips,  was  pref- 
aced by  these  significant  words  :  "  After  this  manner^ 
therefore,  pray  ye."  As  if  even  He,  in  the  most  com- 
prehensive yet  most  specific  prayer  ever  offered  in  the 
same  number  of  words,  would  not  tie  us  to  the  letter 
of  worship,  lest  we,  in  our  proneness  to  outward  form, 
should  lose  the  spirit  of  worship. 

The  book  we  call  "  The  Psalms  " — what  a  treasure- 
store  of  devotion !  A  great  number  of  these  psalms 
are  prayers — prayers  of  trust,  of  longing,  of  penitence, 
of  refuge,  of  triumph.  What  a  cry  of  the  contrite 
sinner  for   pardon  is  the  Fifty-first  Psalm :     "  Have 


The  Minister's  Study  153 

mercy  upon  me,  O  Lord,  according  to  Thy  loving  kind- 
ness." What  a  shout  of  confidence  is  the  Forty-sixth 
Psahn :  "  God  is  our  refuge  and  strength."  How  the 
soul  in  the  Ninety-first  Psalm  goes  to  hiding  in  the 
secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  and  gets  covered  with 
His  pinions,  and  makes  Jehovah  its  "  refuge  "  and 
"fortress."  How  the  Twenty-third  Psalm  has  helped 
many  a  believer  to  "  walk  through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,"  fearing  no  evil !  What  marvels  of 
trust  and  devotion  are  the  prayers  of  the  Master  ! 
How  His  prayer  for  His  disciples  that  "  they  may  be 
one,"  has  hushed  strife  !  How  His  prayer  in  Gethsem- 
ane,  "  If  it  be  possible — If  it  be  possible^ — let  this 
cup  pass ;  nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt," 
has  taught  the  Church  that  intense  desire  before  God 
is  consistent  with  perfect  submission  to  the  will  of 
God. 

And  Paul,  the  peerless  reasoner,  the  deep-toned 
thunderer,  the  preacher  of  the  strong  doctrines  of  God 
— how  he  prayed  !  ^  With  what  intensity  and  fervour 
and  sweep  of  petition  !  So  that  his  prayers  seem 
even  mightier  than  his  arguments. 

'  For  this  cause  I  bow  my  knees  iiuto  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  of  whom  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named,  that 
He  would  grant  you,  according  to  the  riches  of  His  glory,  to  be  strength- 
ened with  might  by  His  Spirit  in  the  inner  man  ;  that  Christ  may 
dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith ;  that  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in 
love,  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all  saints  what  is  the  breadth, 
and  length,  and  depth,  and  height ;  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ, 
which  passeth  knowledge,  that  ye  might  be  filled  with  all  the  fullness 
of  God.— Eph.  3  :  14-19. 

For  God  is  my  record,  how  greatly  I  long  after  you  all  in  the  bowels 
of  Jesus  Christ.  And  this  I  pray,  that  your  love  may  abound  yet 
more  and  more  in  knowledge  and  in  all  judgment;  that  ye  may  ap- 
prove things  that  are  excellent ;  that  ye  may  be  sincere  and  without 


154  Related  Ideals 

But  while  the  Bible  is  the  book  of  books  for  devotional 
expression,  there  are  other  and  blessed  helps  to  the 
language  and  spirit  of  devotion  in  the  literature  of 
worshipping  hearts. 

The  *'  Confessions  of  Augustine " ;  Thomas  a 
Kempis'  "  Imitation  of  Christ  " ;  Taylor's  "  Holy  Liv- 
ing and  Dying";  Baxter's  "Reformed  Pastor,"  and 
"  Saints'  Rest "  ;  Bunyan's  immortal  "  Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress "  ;  and  the  book  of  which  it  was  born,  and  with- 
out which  it  could  not  have  been  written,  viz., 
"  Grace  Abounding  to  the  Chief  of  Sinners," — a  great 
heart-stucly ;  Rutherford's  "  Letters,"  rich,  quaint, 
juicy,  precious ;  Phelps'  "  The  Still  Hour,"  a  very 
multum  in  parvo  on  prayer  ;  Bo  wen's  "  Daily  Medita- 
tions " ;  deeply  spiritual,  yet  marked  by  great  sanity 
as  well  as  sanctity;  Dickson's  "All  About  Jesus,"  on 
a  section  of  Canticles ;  Shedd's  "  Sermons  to  the 
Spiritual  Man  "  ;  McClure's  "  Growing  Pastor  "  ; 
Speer's  "Remember  Jesus  Christ";  Gibson's  "The 
Devotional  Use  of  the  Holy  Scriptures";  Horton's 
"  The  Open  Secret." 

These  and  many  more  may  well  find  their  way  to 
the  ideal  study,  and  take  their  place  in  the  section  de- 
voted to  the  literature  of  spiritual  nurture  ;  and  this  sec- 
tion will  ere  long  be  filled  with  the  choicest  devotional 
products  inside  and  outside  the  Word  of  God  ;  and  while 
the  ideal  study  will  grow  to  be  a  very  garden  of  spices 
in  the  care  and  culture  of  the  years,  this  particular 
section  or  alcove  will  come  to  be  to  the  ideal  student 
the  dearest  spot  in  the  garden.     He  will  saturate  his 

offense  till  the  day  of  Christ ;  being  filled  with  the  fruits  of  righteous- 
ness, which  are  by  Jesus  Christ,  unto  the  glory  and  praise  of  God.— 
FUL  1  :  8-11. 


The  Minister's  Study  155 

mind  and  heart  with  these  outpourings  of  spiritual 
fervour,  as  they  shall  have  been  gathered  for  his 
meditation  and  use.  And  to  such  a  student  of  the 
communings  and  devotional  rapture  of  God's  saints 
with  their  God,  a  set  form  and  order  of  prayer  will  be 
a  bondage.  It  will  not  meet  his  varying  needs  nor 
answer  to  his  varying  moods.  Much  less  will  it  fit  in 
to  the  ever-changing  needs  and  moods  of  his  people. 
Fixed  grooves  are  not  the  channels  of  a  free  spirit. 

One  word  more  as  to  the  ideal  study  must  suffice. 
Imagine  the  student  at  his  study  table.  What  should 
he  have  within  easy  reach  ? 

A  revolving  bookcase  should  be  at  his  right  hand. 
And  in  this  bookcase  should  be  the  most  commonly 
needed  helps  for  daily  use :  his  lexicons,  English, 
Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew ;  a  concordance ;  a  Bible 
dictionary ;  and  a  thesaurus  of  English  words.  Here 
also  he  should  have  a  volume  of  some  one  or  more 
of  his  favourite  authors — Browning,  Mrs.  Browning, 
Tennyson,  Carlyle,  Emerson,  Whittier,  Mark  Twain, 
Wordsworth — to  turn  to  when  the  mood  is  on.  And 
the  new  book  just  out  and  making  a  stir,  he  should 
have  that  within  easy  reach  that  he  may  dip  into  it 
in  any  unexpected  leisure  half  hour.  Here  also 
should  be  put  week  by  week  the  exegetical  critical 
helps,  the  commentaries,  and  such  other  books  as  are 
likely  to  be  needed  for  reference  in  the  preparation 
of  the  week's  sermon,  to  be  returned  to  their  respect- 
ive shelves  every  Monday,  and  replaced  by  others 
suited  to  the  next  week's  work.  And  not  far  away 
from  his  study  chair  should  be  a  hanging  shelf  that 
could  be  swung  out  when  needed ;  and  so  made  as  to 
require  neither  nail  nor  screw  nor  hammer  to  fasten 


156  Related  Ideals 

it  to  its  place ;  thus  serving  as  a  table  where  he  may 
stand  to  do  his  work :  a  great  relief  from  the  pro- 
tracted sitting  posture.  On  this  inclined  shelf  one  or 
two  of  the  big  dictionaries  might  be  open  for  con- 
venient use.^ 

With  an  ideal  student  such  as  we  have  already 
described — receptive,  attentive,  assimilative,  concen- 
trative,  many-sided,  and  listening  with  the  ear  of  his 
soul  for  the  Holy  Spirit's  communications,  and  having 
the  habit  of  diligence  (toil  in  the  love  of  it),  thorough- 
ness (throughness)  and  method  (everything  in  its  time 
and  place)  with  such  a  student,  and  with  anything 
like  a  near  approach  to  the  ideal  study  herein  set 
forth,  we  have  all  the  conditions  favourable  to  the 
ideal  sermon  :  i.  e.,  to  the  sermon  perfectly  adapted  to 
do  the  work  of  God.  Nearer  and  nearer  approaches 
to  this  ideal  will  be  the  sermons  born  in  that  study — 
begotten  in  the  throes  of  that  toiling  and  praying 
student. 

'  Any  carpenter  with  a  board  and  four  hinges  (two  for  the  shelf,  and 
two  for  the  swinging  legs  underneath)  and  a  couple  of  sockets  or  sup- 
ports to  hold  the  legs  in  place,  could  make  this  shelf  at  a  trifling  cost ; 
and  it  could  be  put  up  or  taken  down  by  any  one  in  two  minutes. 

In  the  Albert  Barnes  study  of  the  old  First  Church  of  Philadel- 
phia, a  high  fixed  desk,  built  in  with  the  bookcases,  ran  along  one  en- 
tire side  of  the  room,  and  there  this  beloved  man  of  God  paced  back 
and  forth  for  many  years,  doing  that  pioneer  popular  commentary 
work  which  gave  him  a  name  throughout  the  Christian  world.  He 
was  in  his  study  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  occupied  with  his  com- 
mentary. But  precisely  at  the  stroke  of  the  old  clock  on  Independence 
Hall  for  the  hour  of  nine,  he  dropped  his  commentary  pen,  and  went 
to  his  study  desk  for  his  sermonio  work. 


XII 
THE  LAW  OP  ADAPTATION 


SYLLABUS 

Introductory. — If  the  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God,  the  preacher's 
chief  couceru  is  with  the  application  of  this  power.     Heuce  it  is  of 
vital  importance  that  regard  be  had  to  the  law  of  adaptation. 
I.      Comprehensively,  adaptation  in  preaching  is  saying  the  right 
thing  at  the  right  time  in  the  right  way. 

The  objection  that  the  minister's  one  concern  is  to  preach 
the  truth,  and  that  only  the  Holy  Spirit  can  make  the 
truth   effective,    makes   effects  in  the  kingdom  of  God 
purely   arbitrary,    and   is   contradicted    (1)   by   reason  ; 
(2)  by  experience ;  (li)  by  the  Scriptures. 
II.     Adaptation    requires   that   the  sermon  should  always   answer 
some  definite  end. 
III.     Adaptation  has  respect  to  men  as  they  are,  not  as  they  should  be. 
IV.    Adaptation  has  respect  to  differing  minds  and  temperaments, 
(a)     Some  need  heroic  treatment. 
(6)     Some  are  of  an  excitable  temperament, 
(c)     Some  are  naturally  belligerent. 
{d)     Some  are  warmly  emotional. 
V.     Adaptation  has  respect  to  differing  conditions. 


VI. 


1. 

General. 

(a)     The  spirit  of  the  times. 

(6)     Ignorance. 

(c)     Doctrinal  error. 

2. 

Special. 

(a)     Inactivity. 

(6)     Sorrow. 

(c)     Alienation  and  estrangement  as  between  Chris- 

tians. 

{d)     Impenitency. 

(e)     Honest  doubt. 

(/)     Wandering. 

{g)     Honest  inquiry. 

Adaptation  compels   variety,   and  makes   the  preacher  many- 

sided. 

XII 
THE  LAW  OF  ADAPTATION 

IF  the  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God,  the  preacher's 
chief  concern  is  with  the  application  of  this 
power.  How  may  the  Gospel  be  best  applied? 
In  what  way  can  it  be  best  presented,  so  as  most 
effectively  to  reach  men's  consciences  and  hearts  ?  It 
is  of  vital  importance  here,  as  in  every  other  work  of 
life,  that  regard  should  be  had  to  the  law  of  adajpta- 
tion.  There  are  conditions  to  be  noted,  circumstances 
to  be  considered,  times  and  temperaments  and  places 
and  prejudices  to  be  taken  into  account  in  the  public 
presentation  of  gospel  truth,  which  may,  and  which 
should,  make  a  marked  difference  in  the  kind  of  truth 
presented,  and  in  the  manner  of  presenting  it. 

First  and  comprehensively,  adaptation  in  preaching 
is  saying  the  right  thing  at  the  right  titne  in  the  right 
way.  It  is  fitness  of  matter,  fitness  of  moment  and 
fitness  of  method,  in  pulpit  discourse.  It  is  the  apos- 
tolic ability  and  willingness  to  become  all  things  to  all 
men,  so  as  bv  all  means  to  save  some. 

To  this  it  is  objected  that  gospel  truth  is  gospel 
truth,  however  presented ;  and  it  must  be  left  to  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  operations  for  any 
effect  it  may  produce. 

But  the  objection  makes  effects  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  purely  arbitrary.  Results  have  no  connection 
with  appropriate  means.     Everything  is  without  order 

159 


i6o  Related  Ideals 

and  without  law.  One  form  of  truth  is  just  as  likely 
to  be  effective  as  another,  without  regard  to  time  or 
place  or  condition  of  heart.  This  is  contradicted 
alike  by  reason,  by  experience,  and  by  the  Word  of 
God.  Reason  contradicts  it :  for  reason  demands  an 
adaptation  of  means  to  ends  in  the  spiritual  world  as 
everywhere  else.  Experience  contradicts  it:  for  ex- 
perience makes  it  clear  that  such  adaptation  has  al- 
ways been  connected  with  the  best  results.  The  most 
effective  preachers  of  the  Gospel  have  been  those  who 
knew  the  art  of  applying  its  power  by  skillfully  adapt- 
ing its  varied  truths  to  the  varied  needs  and  moods  of 
men. 

And  the  Word  of  God  contradicts  it :  for  it  com- 
mands wisdom  in  winning  souls,  and  wisdom  is  im- 
possible where  results  are  arbitrary  and  lawless.  And 
Paul  was  a  fool  to  make  himself  a  servant  unto  all, 
and  to  become  as  weak  to  the  weak,  as  a  Jew  to  the 
Jews,  as  without  law  to  them  that  are  without  law, 
and  "  as  all  things  to  all  men,  that  he  might  by  all 
means  save  some." 

If  adaptation  is  of  no  moment  in  the  presentation  of 
gospel  truth,  then  let  us  have  human  parrots  or  skill- 
fully constructed  talking  machines  in  our  pulpits,  and 
put  living  and  thinking  men  to  a  business  that  requires 
the  use  of  judgment  and  reason  for  its  prosecution. 

If  adaptation  in  preaching  is  an  admitted  necessity, 
then  it  is  a  prime  necessity,  and  should  have  every 
preacher's  thoughtful  study.  Here  should  be  exhib- 
ited the  skill  of  a  workman  who  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed.  Here  should  be  practiced  the  consummate 
art  of  a  wise  master-builder,  carrying  up  the  walls  of 
God's  spiritual  temple  with  living  masonry.     He  is 


The  Law  of  Adaptation  16 1 

dealing  with  souls,  and  what  range  and  compass,  what 
infinite  variety,  what  prejudices  and  passions  and 
tastes  and  temperaments,  what  resistances  and  prefer- 
ences and  lying  refuges,  what  shut  and  open  doors, 
what  wills — active,  sluggish,  pliant,  defiant — what  in- 
roads of  doubt  and  of  fear,  joy  and  sorrow,  of  hope  and 
disappointment  and  even  dark  despair !  Surely  to 
meet  all  this  requires  rare  facility  of  adaptation.  And 
herein  is  the  chief  wisdom  of  winning  souls  and  build- 
ing them  up  in  Christ.  It  is  a  business  demanding 
utmost  tact  and  good  judgment  and  knowledge  of 
human  nature  and  familiarity  with  the  Word  of  God. 
After  years  of  preaching,  the  preacher  will  only  reach 
an  approximate  knowledge  and  observance  of  this  law 
of  adaptation  ;  involving  the  fit  application  of  the  in- 
finitely varied  truths  of  God  to  the  infinitely  varied 
needs  of  the  souls  of  men. 

11.  Adaptation  in  preaching  requires  that  the  ser- 
TRon  should  always  answer  some  end.  Never  should  it 
be  written  for  the  mere  sake  of  writing.  Nev^er 
should  it  be  written  because  the  drudgery  of  weekly 
toil  opens  each  week  with  the  question  :  How  am  I 
to  get  ready  for  Sunday  ?  and  because  the  process  of 
grinding  out  one  or  two  sermons  must  be  gone  through 
with  in  answer  to  that  question.  Preaching  like  this 
is  mechanical  and  burdensome — not  the  work  of  a 
freeman  in  Christ.  It  begets  bondage,  and  is  likely  to 
be  smitten  with  barrenness. 

Nor  should  the  sermon  be  Avritten  in  the  mere  pur- 
pose of  expanding  a  passage  or  developing  a  theme, 
leaving  it  to  the  sovereignty  of  God  to  produce  this 
effect  or  that. 

There  should  be  a  reason  for  selecting  one  theme 


l62  Related  Ideals 

rather  than  another,  and  for  treating  it  one  way  rather 
than  another.  Hence  the  question  to  be  asked  and 
answered  is,  Why  expound  such  a  passage,  or  develop 
such  a  theme  ?  or,  What  "  call "  is  there  from  "  the  body 
of  the  house  "  for  next  Sabbath's  sermon  ? 

A  vast  and  varied  need  is  before  the  preacher  week 
by  week,  and  it  will  be  a  reproach  to  him — it  will 
seriously  mar  the  effectiveness  and  the  fidelity  of  his 
ministry — if  he  does  not  see  to  it  that  that  need  is  in 
some  way  met.  To  get  through  the  week's  inevitable 
work  will  not  be  his  chief  concern,  nor  will  it  be  any 
concern.  But  he  will  be  pressed  to  his  study  and  to 
the  inner  sanctuary  of  prayer  with  the  cry.  What  shall 
I  do  to  help  and  heal,  to  reach  and  save  my  people — 
to  stimulate  to  a  duty  undone ;  to  safeguard  some 
tempted  and  imperilled  soul ;  to  give  hope  to  a  despond- 
ent heart  that  may  have  had  blow  on  blow,  until  it 
seems  to  that  heart  as  if  God  had  forgotten  to  be 
gracious  ;  or  to  warn  some  reckless  despiser  of  God's 
mercy  that  the  hour  that  seems  big  with  mercy  may 
be  big  with  doom,  if  he  do  not  repent  ? 

So,  the  theme  will  be  chosen,  and  the  sermon  writ- 
ten to  suit  some  present  condition.  The  true  gunner 
in  pursuit  of  game  does  not  swing  his  gun  at  a  flock 
of  birds  flying  by,  and^^e  as  he  swings  ;  he  takes  aim 
at  some  single  bird  in  the  flock  and  fires.  So  the 
adaptive  preacher  will  have  his  eye  open  to  some  im- 
mediate definite  need,  either  of  the  congregation  or  of 
a  class,  or  of  an  individual  in  the  congregation  ;  and 
he  will  be  on  his  knees  before  Go^l,  and  in  diligent 
search  through  the  Scriptures,  for  his  message  ;  and  he 
will  be  at  his  study  table  with  toil  of  brain  and  heart, 
to  unfold  and  enforce  that  nlessage. 


The  Law  of  Adaptation  163 

Even  the  crudest  workman  in  ordinary  handicraft 
pays  some  heed  to  the  law  of  adaptation.  He  selects 
from  his  tools  the  one  best  fitted  to  the  peculiarities 
of  the  task  he  has  in  hand.  Now,  of  all  work  in  the 
world,  the  preacher's  is  the  transcendently  important 
work.  His  sermons  are  his  tools.  Each  one  should  be 
made  and  used  for  the  peculiar  effects  it  is  both  de- 
signed and  adapted  to  produce,  either  on  the  spiritually 
alive  or  the  spiritually  dead  of  the  people  committed 
to  his  care.  Mark  the  skilled  dentist,  even  in  so  slight 
a  matter  as  the  treatment  of  a  tooth.  How  thorough 
his  examination  !  And  then  with  what  painstaking 
care  he  makes  selection  from  the  kit  of  tools,  so  as  to 
get  the  instrument  most  perfectly  adapted  to  do  the 
needed  work.  Note  the  eminent  surgeon  !  Examina- 
tion before  amputation,  always.  Note  the  distin- 
guished physician !  Diagnosis  before  prescription,  al- 
wavs. 

And  yet  in  this  God-given  trust  of  ministry  to  souls, 
is  it  not  undeniably  true  that  preaching  too  often  con- 
tents itself  with  an  exhibition  of  truth,  either  by  a 
process  of  logic,  or  a  flight  of  imagination,  or  a  shower 
of  rhetorical  brilliants,  without  any  specific  or  deter- 
mined purpose  whatever  on  the  part  of  the  preacher, 
beyond  the  discharge  of  his  own  thoughts ! 

III.  Adajptation  has  respect  to  men  as  they  are, 
not  as  they  ought  to  he.  Men  ought  unquestionably 
to  be  willing  to  hear  and  heed  the  Gospel,  no  matter 
in  what  manner  presented  or  by  whom.  They  ought 
to  be  willing  to  pay  regard  to  its  truths  whatever 
the  verbal  dress  of  those  truths,  or  the  offensiveness 
of  the  manner  of  their  presentation,  or  whatever 
their  inherent  unpalatableness.      But  men  are  not  so 


164  Related  Ideals 

willing.  The  preacher  must  take  men  as  he  finds 
them,  as  it  has  pleased  God  to  place  them  before 
him.  And  he  must  lift  them  out  of  their  weakness, 
charm  them  away  from  their  kennels  of  prejudice 
and  folly,  find  the  available  avenues  to  their  hearts  ; 
and,  while  making  no  compromises  with  their  sins, 
manifest  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  and  the  harmless- 
ness  of  the  dove.  To  attack  at  once  their  prejudices 
would  be  to  arouse  in  them  every  element  of  opposi- 
tion, and  to  make  it  impossible  to  secure  favourable  at- 
tention to  whatever  else  the  preacher  might  have  to 
say.  If  it  is  God's  truth  that  has  aroused  opposition, 
the  preacher  should  not  be  content  with  simply  say- 
ing, "  Well,  it  is  the  truth  of  God  I  have  preached, 
and  men  ought  to  hear  it  and  heed  it."  Of  course  they 
ought.  But  is  it  not  the  business  of  the  preacher, 
whenever  his  message  has  stirred  to  angry  protest  or 
sullen  silence,  to  challenge  himself  with  questions  like 
these  :  Has  not  my  method  been  at  fault  ?  Might  I 
not  have  got  a  favourable  hearing  for  this  same 
truth  if  I  had  paid  heed  to  what  men  are  in  their 
present  condition  and  circumstances,  and  had  ap- 
proached them  in  a  somewhat  different  way,  yet  with- 
out abating  one  whit  the  claims  of  God's  imperial 
Word? 

lY.  Adaptation  has  also  respect  to  differing  minds 
and  temperaments.  Men  take  in  truth  in  different 
forms,  and  by  different  avenues  or  sides  of  their 
minds. 

(a)  There  are  some  who  need  heroic  treatment, 
whom  to  reach  and  move  you  must  hit  boldly  and 
hard,  whacking  with  the  severest  cudgels  of  logic  and 
denunciation.     It   is   the   only   way   to   rouse   them. 


The  Law  of  Adaptation  165 

They  are  sluggish  in  temperament,  phlegmatic, 
lethargic,  with  sensibilities  largely  beneath  the  sur- 
face. They  will  bear  the  thunderings  of  a  young 
Sinai. 

(h)  Some,  on  the  other  hand,  are  of  excitable  tem- 
perament. To  deal  with  these,  as  with  the  class  just 
named,  would  be  either  to  rouse  a  fearful  tem- 
pest in  them,  or  to  crush  all  heart  and  hope  out 
of  them. 

{c)  Again,  some  are  naturally  belligerent,  smelling 
the  battle  afar  off,  eager  for  the  fray,  delighting  in  noth- 
ing so  much  as  controversy.  Will  you  conciliate  such 
souls,  and  disarm  them  of  opposition  by  coming  into 
their  presence  bristling  all  over  with  offensive  weapons, 
flaunting  aloft  your  battle-flag,  and  shouting  aloud 
your  battle-cry  ? 

Some  are  unemotional,  and  have  little  of  the 
pathetic  or  sympathetic  in  their  nature.  They  don't 
like  tears,  and  are  unmoved  by  them.  Appeals  to  the 
feelings  fall  like  snowflakes  on  the  pavements  in  the 
warm  springtime.  They  want  truth  in  logical  forms 
— hard,  close,  clear  reasoning.  The  nakeder  the 
argument,  and  the  less  accompanied  with  illustrations, 
the  better.  To  attempt  to  give  such  hearers  the  truth 
by  tropes  and  metaphors  and  all  poetic  forms,  or  by 
illustrations  and  touching  appeals,  would  not  meet 
their  need  at  all.  They  must  be  fed  through  their 
reason.  They  can  best  be  reached  and  influenced  in 
that  way,  and  not  very  well  in  any  other  w^ay. 

{d)  Again,  some  are  warmly  emotional.  They  are 
dominated  by  the  feelings.  They  like  the  sermons 
that  are  full  of  gush  and  glow.  They  are  fed  by 
them ;  for  they  knock  at  the  side  of  their  nature  at 


l66  Related  Ideals 

which  truth  enters.  It  is  only  in  emotional  forms 
that  they  apprehend  truth.  Truth  is  floated  in  to 
their  souls  on  the  watercourses  of  their  tears. 

Others  have  aesthetic  tastes,  delighting  in  the  play 
of  the  imagination,  in  the  beautiful  forms  given  to 
thought  and  feeling  by  the  artistic  touch  of  fancy. 
Truth  in  plain  and  homely  garb  is  not  attractive  to 
them.  Now  to  insist  on  feeding  such  minds  with  bare 
syllogism,  with  the  exactest  statements  and  definitions, 
as  one  would  set  a  system  of  theological  truth  before 
an  examining  committee,  would  be  like  reducing 
"  Paradise  Lost "  to  a  series  of  propositions  in  Euclid, 
for  the  purpose  of  exhibiting  its  beauties  to  the  lover  of 
aesthetic  and  poetic  forms. 

Still  others  have  plain  natures,  with  no  imagination 
and  little  culture.  These  must  have  truth  in  a  plain 
way.  In  short,  preaching  should  have  constant  re- 
gard to  the  differing  minds  and  temperaments  in  the 
congregation,  if  the  preacher  would  feed  the  whole 
flock  of  God.  It  should  not  be  purely  intellectual, 
nor  purely  emotional,  nor  purely  to  the  imagination, 
nor  purely  in  the  plain  garb  of  e very-day  life.  Hence 
every  hearer  should  expect  to  like  some  sermons  better 
than  others.  If  the  law  of  adaptation  is  observed  by 
the  preacher,  this  varying  preference  of  the  hearer 
will  be  inevitable.  Hence  also  every  preacher  should 
expect  to  get  a  different  judgment  from  his  people  as 
to  the  work  and  fitness  of  particular  sermons.  The 
inan  the  sermon  finds  is  likely  to  be  the  man  heard 
from  the  next  time  he  and  the  preacher  meet.  And  the 
varying  proof  of  appreciation  should  be  the  best  of 
evidence  to  the  preacher  that  he  is  meeting  the  varied 
need  of  his  flock. 


The  Law  of  Adaptation  167 

Y.     Adaptatio7i  has  respect  to  differing  conditions. 

1.     These  conditions  are  general  and  special. 

(a)  The  spirit  of  the  times.  Difficult  as  it  may  be 
to  define  this  spirit  or  to  analyze  it,  nevertheless  there 
is  such  a  spirit ;  and  it  is  constantly  changing  in  the 
advancing  years.  It  is  subtle,  pervasive,  wide-reach- 
ing, influential.  The  men  of  most  influence  in  any 
department  of  activity  are  the  men  who  most  truly 
represent  this  spirit,  and  who  adapt  their  methods  to 
its  changing  phases.  The  preacher  is  no  exception. 
He  holds  fast  to  the  old  and  everlasting  truths ;  but 
he  will  change  the  means  and  methods  and  forms  of 
their  presentation,  by  an  adaptation  to  the  spirit  of 
the  times  in  which  he  lives. 

If  Paul  were  living  now  with  his  noble  sinuosity 
and  rare  adjustableness,  fitting  himself  to  the  need  of 
the  time,  he  would  not  preach  as  he  did  in  the  first 
century.  Many  of  the  mighty  sermons  of  even  only 
fifty  years  ago  would  lose  their  effect  if  repeated  now, 
unless  recast  in  a  mould  suited  to  the  hour. 

(5)  Another  general  condition  may  be  that  of 
ignorance.  Amongst  a  people  unfamiliar  with  the 
Gospel,  untrained  in  the  Sabbath-school,  unused  to 
the  instruction  of  the  sanctuary,  and  generally  un- 
educated, the  law  of  adaptation  would  surely  require 
the  simplest  forms  of  speech,  and  a  presentation  of  the 
very  rudiments  and  elementary  principles  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  The  whole  tone  and  tenor  of 
preaching,  its  forms  and  even  subject-matter,  should 
be  adjusted  to  this  state  of  things.  And  the  preacher 
should  remember  that,  even  in  the  most  favoured  com- 
munity, there  will  always  be  a  considerable  class  who 
need  to  be  fed  with  the  "  milk  of  the  Word,"  rather 


l68  Related  Ideals 

than  "the  strong  meat."  Better  far  will  it  be  for  the 
preacher  to  take  the  risk  of  being  thought  no  great 
reasoner  and  no  mighty  intellectual  athlete,  than  to 
fail  of  adapting  truth  to  that  large  number  in  every 
congregation  who  are  utterly  unable  to  appreciate  the 
subtle  refinements  of  close  reasoning,  and  the  ingeni- 
ous connections  of  logical  processes.  Probably  the 
most  prevalent  fault  of  the  ministry  of  our  day  is  the 
taking,  in  things  spiritual,  too  much  for  granted  as  al- 
ready known  by  the  congregation. 

(c)  Still  another  general  condition  may  be  that  of 
doctrinal  error.  A  preacher  may  be  called,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  to  a  community  where  some 
mischievous  error  of  doctrine  has  taken  wide  and 
deep  root. 

Shall  he  directly  and  openly  attack  it  ? 

The  temptation  will  undoubtedly  be  to  rush  with 
hot  haste  and  consuming  zeal  to  the  demolition  of  the 
pernicious  heresy.  But  the  zeal,  after  all,  is  not  likely 
to  be  according  to  knowledge. 

If  the  error  is  limited  in  its  influence,  and  not  im- 
mediately ruinous  to  souls,  ordinarily  it  would  seem 
to  be  the  better  plan  to  have  the  error  supplanted  by 
the  persistent,  bold,  faithful  presentation  of  truth^  with 
little  or  no  reference  to  the  error  in  question. 

But  if  the  error  is  wide-spread  and  influential,  a 
marked,  notorious  thing,  then  to  the  question : 
"  Shall  error  be  directly  and  openly  attacked  from 
the  pulpit  ?  "  the  answer  should  be  :  Yes,  provided 
one  is  sure  of  his  guns  i  that  they  are  of  sufficient 
range  and  calibre  to  knock  the  thing  all  to  pieces. 

But  possibly  the  better  way  even  here  would  be  to 
pour  truth  into  the  conscience;   to  aim  directly  at 


The  Law  of  Adaptation  169 

souls.  And  if  the  guns  are  given  range  by  the  Lord 
Almighty,  and  the  shot  strike,  and  the  cry  come  from 
men.  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ? — error  will  slink 
away.  It  can't  stand  before  the  mighty  moving  of 
God's  Spirit.  The  best  antidote  for  heresy  is  a  revival 
of  religion. 

2.  There  are  also  special  conditions,  as  well  as  gen- 
eral, to  which  adaptation  has  reference  : 

{a)  Inactivity.  Some  souls  have  gone  to  sleep  or 
are  smitten  with  supineness  and  sloth.  The  preacher 
would  bring  them  abreast  of  the  workers  and  watch- 
ers who  are  at  their  posts,  bearing  the  burdens  and 
heat  of  the  day.  Preaching  adapted  to  arouse  these  in- 
active souls  will  not  so  much  smite  their  inactivit}^  as  it 
will  show  them  the  vast  interests  imperilled  by  their 
idleness ;  or  as  it  will  dwell  with  loving  and  glowing 
enthusiasm  on  the  rewards  of  active  obedience ;  or, 
better  still,  perhaps,  as  it  will  show  them  their  grieved 
Lord — grieved  because  of  alienated  and  estranged 
disciples  who  have  grown  forgetful  of  their  vows  and 
promises,  and  before  whom  He  stands  pleading,  as  in 
the  days  of  His  flesh.  He  pleaded,  saying  with  tender- 
ness and  tears,  "Could  ye  not  watch  with  Me  one 
hour?"     "  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?  " 

Far  better  this  than  the  chronic  pulpit  scold.  Now 
and  then,  a  flashing  rebuke  for  supineness  and  in- 
activity, given  w^ith  Christlike  tenderness  and  fidelity, 
would  be  the  preacher's  justification,  and  exhibit  the 
very  mind  of  the  Master.  But  so-called  "scolding 
sermons  "  are  of  questionable  value  either  to  pulpit 
or  parish. 

(5)  Sorrow  is  another  special  condition  calling  for 
wise  and  tender  adaptation.     The  preacher  will  study 


lyo  Related  Ideals 

to  meet  this  condition.  And  he  will  vary  the  truth 
so  that  it  will  always  answer  to  the  special  and 
peculiar  need. 

At  one  time  he  will  come  with  the  Gospel's  rare 
and  sweet  consolations.  At  another  he  will  dwell  on 
the  rich  fruits  of  sorrow.  And,  again,  he  will  press 
the  lofty  thought  of  God's  sign  and  seal  in  sorrow. 
And  still  again,  he  will  stimulate  to  a  great  duty  in 
which  once  engaged  the  soul  wiWyorget  its  sorrow. 

(c)  Alienation  and  estrangement  as  between  Chris- 
tians. Preaching  adapted  to  this  will  let  it  alone  so 
far  as  dealing  with  it  directly  and  openly  from  the 
pulpit  is  concerned.  But  the  preacher  now  and  then 
will  make  his  sermons  so  exhibitive  of  the  Christly 
qualities  of  forgiveness  and  patience  and  gentleness 
and  loving  sufferance,  that  he  will  weigh  down  that 
side  of  the  scale  in  alienated  hearts,  and  make  hate 
an(J  bitterness  and  all  uncharitableness  ''kick  the 
beam." 

(d)  Impenitency.  This  condition  is  always  special 
and  varied,  and  requires  rare  delicacy  of  treatment. 
Each  soul  should  be  studied  as  to  its  defenses  and  ap- 
proaches, its  dispositions  and  prejudices,  its  shut  and 
open  doors.  In  the  course  of  time,  down  through 
one's  ministry,  the  pastor  should  aim  to  have  each 
soul's  need  met  by  truth  prepared  specifically  for  that 
soul's  case. 

There  are  at  least  two  urgent  reasons  why  there 
should  be  far  more  of  this  aiming  directly  and  adapt- 
edly  at  individual  souls. 

First.  The  preacher  never  hnows  when  he  is  face  to 
face  with  his  last  opportunity.  The  soul  may  not  be 
there  another  Sabbath  to  aim  at. 


The  Law  of  Adaptation  171 

Second.  A71  ounce  of  instruction  to  a  soul  in  Christ, 
is  worth  a  ton  of  instruction  to  a  soul  out  of  Christ. 

Still  other  and  greatly  varied  special  conditions  will 
suggest  themselves. 

{e)  A  condition  of  honest  doubt.  There  is  doubt 
and  doubt — the  doubt  of  cavil  and  the  doubt  of  love. 
There  is  a  vast  difference  between  fearing  a  thing  may 
be  false  and  wishing  it  false.  The  recorded  interview 
between  Christ  and  Thomas  is  here  in  point.  When 
the  other  disciples  reported  that  they  had  seen  the 
risen  Lord,  Thomas  said,  ^'  Except  I  shall  see  in  His 
hands  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  put  my  finger  in  the 
print  of  the  nails,  and  put  my  hand  into  His  side,  I 
will  not  believe."  When  next  the  disciples  met,  Christ 
was  with  them.  How  did  Christ  treat  this  honest 
doubter?  He  said  to  Thomas,  "Keach  hither  thy 
finger,  and  see  My  hands  ;  and  reach  hither  thy  hand 
and  put  it  into  My  side ;  and  be  not  faithless  but  be- 
lieving." To  honest  doubt  Christ  furnished  the  evi- 
dence. To  the  Pharisaic  doubt  of  cavil  and  hate, 
Christ  sometimes  gave  silence,  sometimes  intense  and 
scathing  rebuke. 

(y )  Another  special  condition  is  that  of  wandering 
and  worldly -mindedness.  What  a  picture  we  have  of 
Christ's  approach  to  such  a  church  or  heart,  in  the 
words :  "  Behold  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock." 
Christ  waiting ;  waiting  just  outside :  waiting  to  come 
in,  if  only  the  sinner  will  open  the  door.  Have  we 
been  after  heart  or  church  in  that  patient,  waiting, 
pleading,  adaptive  way  ? 

(p')  And  still  another  special  condition  is  that  of 
honest  and  earnest  inquiry  as  to  the  way  of  salvation. 
Blessed  is  the  ministry  that  frequently  faces  this  con- 


lyi  Related  Ideals 

dition,  and  that  often  hears  the  cry,  "  What  shall  I  do 
to  be  saved?"  In  order  to  anything  like  a  proper 
answer  to  this  transcendent  question,  adaptation  re- 
quires a  knowledge  of  at  least  two  things — human 
nature  and  the  Word  of  God.  The  minister  may  be 
acquainted  with  a  lot  of  people,  yet  not  know  human 
nature.  He  may  have  a  perfectly  orthodox  system  of 
theology,  yet  not  know  his  Bible. 

The  surgeon  does  not  venture  to  use  his  tools 
on  a  living  body,  without  knowledge  of  the  compli- 
cated physical  framework.  Surely  that  complex  and 
subtle  mixture  of  will  and  affection,  of  intellect  and 
passion,  of  reason  and  conscience,  constituting  human 
nature,  must  be  known  by  the  preacher,  before  truth 
can  be  adapted  to  its  need.  And  for  the  most  perfect 
adaptation,  he  must  know  the  actual  human  nature 
before  him,  Sabbath  after  Sabbath — the  temperaments, 
tastes,  prejudices,  and  conditions  of  his  people. 

And  this  varied  and  varying  need  necessitates 
knowledge  of  the  Word  of  God  to  meet  it  The 
claims  of  the  law  of  adaptation  will  send  the  preacher 
on  diligent  and  prayerful  search  through  the  Scrip- 
tures for  the  truth  adapted  to  each  special  case.  He 
will  light  on  some  sweet  promise  with  which  to  buoy 
up  the  despondent.  He  will  dig  deep  till  he  finds  the 
ore  with  which  to  enrich  some  other  labourer  for  God 
striving  to  lay  up  treasure  in  heaven.  He  will  get 
honey  from  some  spiritual  rock  of  God's  Word  with 
which  to  fill  the  mouth  of  one  hungering  for  the 
sweets  of  Christian  discipleship.  Yea,  he  will  look 
long  and  lovingly  into  the  glass  of  the  Word,  and  get 
so  familiar  with  the  face  of  his  Beloved,  beholding 
His  glory,  that  he  will  be  able  to  show  Him  to  many 


The  Law  of  Adaptation  173 

an  inquiring  soul,  who  "  would  see  Jesus  " ;  and  thus 
be  the  blessed  instrument  of  transforming  them  into 
the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory. 

YL  As  a  kind  of  conclusion  from  this  somewhat 
extended  discussion  of  the  law  of  adaptation,  it  is 
manifest  that  adaptation  compels  variety  and  makes 
the  preacher  many-sided. 

The  reaction  on  the  preacher  is  not  the  least  of  the 
advantages  of  an  observance  of  this  great  law.  When 
he  comes  to  make  it  the  controlling,  unwavering 
purpose  of  his  ministry  to  meet  both  the  specific  and 
general  need  of  his  field  of  labour,  he  will  find  his  ser- 
mons taking  on  an  endless  variety.  It  cannot  be  oth- 
erwise. Ruts  deeply  worn  will  be  impossible.  Adapta- 
tion will  free  the  preacher  from  monotonous  repetition. 
It  is  a  perpetual  "  declaration  of  independence  "  of  any 
arbitrary  sermonic  rule,  as  if  every  sermon  were  to  be 
squared  and  hewn  to  that.  The  preacher  with  a  bulge 
will  not  be  found  in  this  company.  Many-sidedness 
is  its  crown  and  glory.  As  a  fisher  of  men  he  will 
bait  his  hook  to  suit  all  tastes.  Now  he  will  put  a 
truth  in  the  groove  of  syllogism.  Now  he  will  give 
it  aesthetic  or  emotional  form.  Now  he  will  spread 
his  wings  and  fly,  in  the  joy  of  a  vigorous  imagination 
and  take  some  of  his  hearers  with  him  to  get  new 
visions  of  God  through  revelations  of  His  grace  and 
glory.  Now  he  will  take  the  pedestrian  style  and  go 
afoot  and  show  his  lowly  hearers  how  the  commonest 
paths  of  service  bloom  with  God's  best,  and  how  the 
lowliest  flowers,  scarce  daring  to  look  up  in  the  face 
of  one  of  God's  beautiful  days  on  earth,  seem  to  catch 
a  great  deal  of  sunshine  and  to  reflect  the  very  azure  of 
heaven. 


iy4  Related  Ideals 

And  if  he  seem  to  preach  only  half  so  well  to  the 
intellect  as  to  the  heart  he  will  now  and  then  preach 
to  the  intellect,  if  there  are  minds  before  him  craving 
that  form  of  Truth's  presentation.  If  some  dear 
parishioner  says  of  a  certain  style  of  sermonizing, 
"  That's  the  preaching  for  me ;  stick  to  that,  and  you 
cannot  fail  of  doing  good,"  the  wise  preacher  will  not 
"  stick."  But  he  will  remember  the  well-meant  coun- 
sel, and  put  it  away  in  his  private  note-book,  and  once 
in  a  while  he  will  recall  the  sermon  that  helped  and 
comforted  and  proved  manna  of  heaven  to  that  be- 
lieving heart,  and  he  will  try  to  preach  another  liJce  it 
for  that  same  believing  heart. 

But  the  ideal  preacher  will  keep  out  of  a  rut  in  his 
preaching.  He  is  dealing  with  souls.  And  no  two  of 
them  are  ever  alike.  And  therefore  he  will  be  kept 
in  no  form  of  public  presentation  of  truth  that  will 
make  him  a  one-sided  preacher — a  preacher  with  a 
bulge :  leaving  half  his  people  unhelped,  unmoved, 
undeveloped,  while  ministering  with  acceptance  and 
spiritual  profit  to  the  other  half. 


XIII 
PEEACHING  OLD  DOCTEINES  m  NEW  TIMES 


SYLLABUS 

I.     What  are  the  old  doctrines  ? 
II.     What  are  the  new  times  ? 
III.     How  shall  the  old  doctrines  be  preached  in  the  new  times  ? 

(a)     In  their  totality — the  new  times  must  hide  no  truth. 
(6)    In   their  Scriptural  fullness.      Hell  is   not  a    mere 
euphemism.      The  Atonement  is  something  more 
and  deeper  than  a  moral  influence, 
(c)    With  constant  regard  to  the  law  of  adaptation. 

(1)  Bows  are  not  to  be  drawn  at  a  venture. 

(2)  Adaptation  will  have  reference  to  men  as  they 

are,  not  as  they  ought  to  be. 

(3)  The  perspective,  and  therefore  the  proportion 

and  the  emphasis  of  truth,  will  change  with 
the  changing  years. 


XIII 
PEEACHmG  OLD  DOCTKINES  IN  NEW  TIMES 

WHAT  do  we  mean  by  the  old  doctrines? 
And  what  do  we  mean  by  the  new  times? 
Definite  knowledge  of  what  these  things 
are  is  in  order  before  we  undertake  to  fit  the  one  to 
the  other.  Let  us  have  a  roll-call  of  the  old  doctrines, 
and  then  let  us  have  a  characterization  of  the  new 
times.  With  these  fairly  in  mind,  we  may  be  well  on 
the  road  to  their  best  adjustment. 

I.  The  old  doctrines  are  the  doctrines  of  God,  of 
Christ,  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  sin  and  its  punishment, 
of  God's  love  in  the  divine  incarnation,  of  the  life, 
death,  resurrection,  ascension,  and  intercession  of 
Jesus  Christ,  of  His  atoning  expiatory  sacrifice,  of 
everlasting  reward  and  punishment,  of  justification 
by  faith,  of  spiritual  regeneration,  repentance  for  sin 
and  growth  in  grace,  of  death  and  the  resurrection 
and  the  judgment — these,  and  doctrines  like  them,  the 
profoundest  truths  ever  grasped  by  the  human  mind, 
and  that  make  the  Book  that  contains  them  the  com- 
pletest  and  the  all-sufficient  revelation  of  God  to  man 
— these  are  the  old  doctrines  ;  old,  yet  ever  new,  that 
may  change  their  form  but  not  their  substance  ;  whose 
order  of  succession,  whose  method  of  illustration,  and 
whose  proportionate  expression  may  vary  with  the 
successive  centuries,  but  whose  inner  and  eternal 
realities    are  like   Him  in    whom   they  inhere,   and 

177 


178  Related  Ideals 

from  whom  they  came,  "  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  forever." 

"  Heredity  "  and  "  environment "  and  '*'  the  stream 
of  tendency  "  and  "  the  survival  of  the  fittest "  and 
"  the  law  of  selection  "  have  not  done  away  with  sin. 
"  Atrophy  by  disuse  "  is  only  a  partial  answer  to  the 
Scriptural  doom  of  death.  The  fires  of  intense  phys- 
ical tortures  as  the  penalty  of  sin  may  have  burned 
out,  but  the  fierce  flames  of  a  wrathful  conscience 
have  not  burned  out ;  and  the  human  bosom  is  still 
wrung  with  the  cry  of  Satan,  "Which  way  I  fly  is 
hell;  myself  am  hell."  Evolution  still  leaves  us 
bridgeless  gulfs  that  only  the  divine  interposition 
involved  in  the  incarnation  and  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  regeneration  of  a  human 
soul,  can  help  us  over.  Personal  responsibility  is  not 
yet  resolved  into  a  "  brain-track."  The  "  I  "  of  per- 
sonality is  still  the  tremendous  factor  in  human 
existence.  The  word  *'  ought "  is  in  all  dictionaries. 
The  "  reign  of  law  "  makes  more  room  for  God. 

11.  "What  now  of  the  "  new  times  "  ?  Is  this  a 
mere  phrase,  the  coinage  of  the  hour  ?  Or  does  it 
stand  for  a  recognizable  and  indisputable  fact  ?  The 
times  are  new,  beyond  a  doubt.  They  are  ever  new. 
There  is  no  long  dead-level  either  of  excellence  or 
stupidity.  ^N'ew  conditions  prevail.  New  forces  are 
let  loose.  ]^ew  social  order  is  established.  There's 
a  new  world  next  door.  The  nations  have  entered 
into  such  near  relation  to  each  other  that  at  any  hour 
they  may  hold  a  conversational  club  meeting.  Society 
is  complex,  yet  so  knit  together  that  ideas  spread  like 
a  contagion.  The  stir  is  prodigious.  A  heart-beat  is 
felt  around  the  world.     If  a  man  who  "  fell  on  sleep  " 


Preaching  Old  Doctrines  in  New  Times      179 

a  hundred  years  ago  should  wake  up  now,  he  would 
rub  his  eyes  and  say  :  "  Old  things  have  passed  away. 
Behold,  all  things  have  become  new."  Kew  men, 
new  measures,  new  thinking,  new  agencies,  new  proc- 
esses, new  relations.  New  ideas  come  trooping  in 
at  new  sides  of  the  mind.  New  forces  are  at  play, 
changing  mental  attitudes,  suggesting  mental  chal- 
lenges, threatening  to  play  havoc,  or  playing  havoc, 
with  mental  convictions.  Warfare  is  not  waged  as  it 
was.  Business  is  not  done  as  it  was.  Kews  is  not 
heralded  as  it  was.  Out  of  what  struggle  and  push 
and  whirl  and  weariness  men  come  into  Sunday  ! 
The  pulpit  has  now  a  harder  task  than  it  ever  had  in 
this  world.  As  Ruskin  once  put  it,  "  Thirty  minutes 
to  raise  the  dead  in  !  " 

III.  How,  now,  shall  the  old  doctrines  be  preached 
in  these  new  times  ? 

(a)  In  their  totality.  The  "  times  "  cannot  change 
the  truths  or  the  facts.  Man's  need  as  a  sinner, 
Christ's  power  unto  salvation,  and  everlasting  life  and 
death,  remain  persistent  factors  in  all  social  relations, 
and  in  spite  of  all  scientific  discoveries.  AVhen  we 
get  to  putting  great  doctrines  of  God  on  the  shelf 
because  they  are  not  suitable  or  palatable,  we  are 
guilty  of  Saul's  sin  of  substituting  sacrifice  for 
obedience ;  and  however  sweet-smelling  the  savour 
of  some  other  truth  we  bring,  it  will  no  more  find 
favour  with  God  than  Saul's  best  sheep  and  oxen.  The 
new  times  must  hide  no  truth.  It  would  be  strange, 
indeed,  to  further  God's  cause  and  kingdom  of  truth 
by  proving  infidel  to  God-ordained  truth  ! 

(5)  Again,  the  old  doctrines  must  be  preached  in 
thei?'  Scriptural  fullness. 


i8o  Related  Ideals 

Just  what  they  mean  in  God's  Word,  they  must 
mean  in  the  modern  pulpit.  To  preach  the  old  truths, 
and  yet  so  preach  them  that  they  are  emptied  of  their 
deep  and  essential  significance,  is  as  great  recreancy 
to  truth  as  not  to  preach  them  at  all.  Hell  is  hell, 
and  Christ  made  it  dreadful  by  every  possible  figure 
of  speech.  And  to  hide  its  terrible  features  by  a 
euphemism,  to  interpret  all  the  dread  imagery  that  is 
used  in  Scripture  for  setting  hell  forth  as  if  it  indi- 
cated mere  atrophy  of  powers,  or  the  mere  searing  of 
conscience,  or  the  mere  shrivelling  of  the  soul  at  last 
into  nothingness,  is  to  preach  a  hell  that  many  a  man 
would  welcome  as  he  left  this  world,  counting  entrance 
into  it  a  positive  joy. 

And  to  preach  Christ  crucified  as  a  marvellous 
"  governmental  expedient,"  or  a  mighty  "  moral  in- 
fluence," or  a  matchless  "  vicarious  sacrifice,"  would 
be  to  preach  the  truth  of  the  Atonement  indeed,  but 
not  all  the  truth.  To  set  forth  that  marvel  and 
miracle  of  grace  in  its  Scriptural  fullness  is  to  put 
into  the  doctrine  of  the  Atonement  expiation  for  sin. 
The  world  is  full  of  vicarious  sacrifice,  but  there  never 
was  but  one  exhibition  of  it  that  affected  sin,  and 
made  it  possible  for  God  to  forgive  the  sinner.  A 
mother  may  suffer  cheerfully,  and  to  the  point  of 
death,  in  her  child's  behalf  and  stead,  but  no  anguish 
of  her  soul  can  take  her  child's  sin  away.  The  ab- 
solutely unique  and  transcendent  thing  in  Christ's 
sacrifice  is  this,  that  it  is  expiatory.  And  to  preach 
the  doctrine  of  the  atonement  with  this  left  out  is  to 
preach  the  doctrine  with  its  heart  left  out. 

So,  too,  with  all  the  old  great  truths.  Love  and 
law  go  hand-in-hand.     Mercy  and  truth  meet  and  kiss 


Preaching  Old  Doctrines  in  New  Times      i8l 

each  other.  Millions  of  free  wills  act  and  interact 
in  the  midst  of  sovereign  and  eternal  purpose.  We 
shall  find  the  harmonies  if  we  go  deep  enough.  All 
seeming  antagonisms  melt  into  friendships  in  the 
divine  reciprocity  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Each  old 
doctrine  holds  in  its  fullness,  and  must  be  preached  in 
its  fullness,  in  old  times  and  new  times. 

{c)  But,  again,  the  old  doctrines  are  to  be  preached 
in  the  new  times  with  constant  regard  to  the  law  of 
adaptation. 

"  Stud}^  to  show  thyself  approved  unto  God,  a  work- 
man unshamed  by  his  work,"  is  the  perpetual  divine 
injunction.  (1)  Bows  are  not  to  be  "drawn  at  a 
venture."  Haphazard  shots,  simply  because  the  arrow 
is  drawn  from  the  quiver  of  God's  Word,  can  have  no 
justification.  Adaptation  is  the  magic  thing  that  will 
fit  the  old  doctrine  to  the  new  times.  Not  adaptation 
that  looks  to  change  of  fundamental  truth,  that  would 
cut  and  hew  and  chip  away  at  doctrine  until  it  was  so 
disfigured  and  marred  as  no  longer  to  reflect  the 
divine  image,  or  to  be  radiant  with  the  glory  of  God 
upon  it ;  but  adaptation  that  looks  to  change  in  the 
method  of  handling  doctrine,  and  of  fitting  it  into 
present  living  need,  this  is  the  necessity.  Not  elimina- 
tion, nor  modification,  but  adjustment. 

(2)  This  adaptation  will  have  respect  to  men  as  they 
are  ;  not  as  they  were  fifty  years  ago  ;  not  as  they  will 
be  fifty  years  hence ;  not  as  they  ought  to  be  to-day, 
but  as  they  are  to-day.  The  actual  human  nature  in 
the  pew  before  the  preacher  Sabbath  by  Sabbath — 
this  is  the  study  of  the  man  of  God,  next  to  his  Bible, 
and  equally  with  his  Bible.  Coordinate  with  Scripture 
exegesis  will  be  this  exegesis  of  human  nature^  this 


l82  Related  Ideals 

reading  of  heart  histories,  this  investigation  of  methods 
of  approach,  this  purpose  to  know  what  his  hearers  are 
thinking  about,  what  defenses  they  are  building,  what 
subterfuges  they  are  resorting  to,  what  the  secret, 
subtle,  insidious,  and  sometimes  unconscious  reason  is, 
for  their  indifference,  or  their  antagonism.,  or  their 
active  opposition.  He  must  get  at  them,  get  alongside 
of  them,  inside  of  them,  lovingly,  sympathetically, 
practically,  sinuously.  A  burglar  will  make  a  study 
of  a  bank- vault  for  weeks  and  months  that  he  may  get 
at  its  elaborately  locked-up  and  triple-bolted  and  barred 
treasures.  Too  many  preachers  spend  much  time  in 
studj^ing  the  deep  things  of  God,  but  no  time  at  all  in 
studying  how  to  get  these  deep  things  of  God  into  the 
deeps  of  a  human  heart. 

Some  belligerent  preachers  come  with  a  battering- 
ram  every  Sabbath,  as  if  every  hearer's  heart  were  a 
fortress,  walled  up  at  every  avenue  of  approach,  and 
encased  in  steel,  and  to  be  entered  only  by  sheer  force. 
Some  are  forever  making  a  downy  pillow  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  shying  it  at  people  week  by  week,  week  by 
week,  as  if  those  making  up  the  whirl  of  the  world, 
whether  in  Millionaire  Avenue  or  Little  Hell,  were 
aching  and  sighing  for  the  touch  of  the  Gospel's 
feathery  softness,  and  wanting  nothing  on  earth  but  a 
gospel  lullaby  1 

Adaptation  !  Adaptation  !  It  is  the  magic  wand 
that  will  make  an  old  doctrine  fit  in  to  any  time,  and 
seem  like  a  birth  of  yesterday  in  its  sweetness  and 
light. 

(3)  Of  course  the  perspective,  and  therefore  ihepro- 
portion  and  the  emphasis  of  truth,  will  change  with  the 
changing  years  and  customs  and  habits  of  thought  and 


Preaching  Old  Doctrines  in  New  Times     183 

«i 

needs  and  antagonisms  of  men.  The  burning  question 
is  not  always  the  same  question.  The  theory  of  a 
process  of  God  is  not  always  the  process.  Inspiration 
is  far  more  than  any  theory  of  inspiration.  That  an 
old  theory  has  been  exploded  is  no  proof  that  the  doc- 
trine has  been  exploded.  The  crude  old  notions  of 
creation  are  exploded ;  but  ''  in  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth,"  opens  the  record  of 
Scripture  to-day  with  all  the  authority  of  a  thousand 
years  ago.  Punishment  may  not  be  literal  fire  any 
more,  but  to  correct  the  crude  conception  of  the  doc- 
trine of  retribution  that  made  hell  a  bed  of  hot  coals 
is  not  to  cease  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  i^etribution  for 
sin.  Dives,  the  rich  man,  begging  for  a  drop  of  water 
to  cool  his  tongue,  may  not  mean  physical  torment  of 
flame,  but  it  means  something  unspealcdble.  And 
science  joins  hand  with  Scripture  in  the  contention 
that  as  a  man  sows  he  shall  surely  reap. 


XIV 

THE  METHOD  OF  A:N^SWEEIKG 
QUESTIONS 


SYLLABUS 

A  preacher  worth  anything  will  start  questions.     A  study  of  Christ's 
method  of  answering  questions  should  help  us  in  making  wise  reply. 
I.     Christ  often  wrapped  His  answer  in  a  parable;  He  replied  by  a 

story. 
II.     His  answer  often  embodied  a  principle,  rather  than  a  rule. 

III.  He  made  much  of  the  Word  of  God ;  and  often  sent  the  inquirer 

to  the  Scriptures. 

IV.  He  looked  at  the  spirit  of  the  questioner,  rather  than  at  the 

letter  of  the  question. 
V.     He  often  answered  one  question  by  asking  another. 
VI.     He  sometimes   met   a  questioner  with  silence,  and  answered 

"  not  a  word." 
VII.     The  question  of  questions,  What  shall  1  do  to  he  saved  ?     How 
did  Christ  answer  that?    He  made  His  answer  to  suit  the  case. 
Sometimes  His  reply  was,  ^'  Believe.''^     Sometimes,  '^  Eepent.'^ 
Again  it  was,  "Sell  all  that  thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor." 
And  again  His  answer  was,  "  Choose  ;  ■ '  the  answer  being  de- 
termined in  each  case  by  the  particular  attitude  of  the  inquirer's 
mind. 
Three  things  mark  Christ's  answer  to  this  question  of  ques- 
tions :     "  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  " 

1.  They  make  it  clear  that  the  door  is  open  to  every  honest 

inquirer. 

2.  They  make  it  clear  that  the  door  is  Christ. 

3.  They  set  the  inquirer  to  doing  nothing  but  what,  in  the 

doing,  would  give  salvation. 
Clearly,  any  answer  that  does  not  send  the  inquirer  straight 

to  Jesus  Christ,  is  big  with  possibilities  of  false  guidance 

and  disaster. 
"  2'he  heart  of  the  righteous  studieih  to  answer.^  ^ — Prov.  15 :  28. 


XIV 

THE  METHOD  OF  ANSWERING 
QUESTIONS 

THE  art  of  questioning  is  of  acknowledged  im- 
portance. It  has  had  wide  attention  and 
study.  The  art  of  answering  questions  is 
hardly  less  important.  But  comparatively  little 
thought  has  been  given  to  it.  It  has  not  had  the  at- 
tention it  deserves.  The  Word  of  God  tells  us  "  a  soft 
answer  turneth  away  wrath."  It  also  commands  us  to 
"  answer  a  fool  according  to  his  folly."  And  yet "  not 
to  answer  a  fool  according  to  his  folly."  Evidently 
there  is  need  of  wide  and  wise  judgment  in  the  replies 
we  make  to  questioners.  "  The  heart  of  the  wise 
studieth  to  answer  ;  "  but  caught  with  a  question,  there 
is  often  no  room  for  study.  And  hence  the  word 
spoken  in  reply  is  not  "  right "  or  "  in  due  season." 
The  wise  man  says  :  "  A  man  hath  joy  by  the  answer 
of  his  mouth  ;  "  but  every  minister  knows  that  that  is 
a  way  of  sorrow  as  well. 

A  preacher,  worth  anything,  will  start  questions. 
A  live  parish  will  fairly  bristle  with  interrogation 
points.  There  are  mental  challenges  in  every  pew, 
and  these  often  find  a  voice.  Honest  doubt  has  its  in- 
quiring mood.  And  dishonest  doubt  puts  on  one. 
Ignorance  leans  expectantly  for  knowledge ;  and  cap- 
tious, cavilling  self-conceit  wants  to  know,  you  know. 
Questions   speculative,  doctrinal,  practical — questions 

187 


i88  Related  Ideals 

of  Christian  casuistry,  of  religion,  politics,  future  life 
— these  crowd  to  the  door  of  the  lips  and  press  for 
answer.  We  are  all  concerned  to  know  how  to  make 
reply. 

Manifestly  the  replies  Christ  made  to  those  who 
came  to  Him  with  one  or  another  word  of  inquiry 
should  prove  an  interesting  and  illuminating  study. 
The  thorough  consideration  of  the  nexus  of  the  ques- 
tions asked  Him,  of  the  spirit  or  incident  that  gave  birth 
to  them,  of  their  grouping  or  classification,  and  of  the 
reach  and  profound  significance  of  Christ's  answers, 
ought  to  yield  a  large  profit. 

For  the  pastor  in  the  frequent  and  inevitable  ques- 
tionings of  his  parish  ;  for  the  parent  brought  often 
face  to  face  with  the  difficulties  raised  by  an  inquiring 
child  ;  for  the  teacher  before  his  class  where  the  spirit 
of  inquiry  has  been  stimulated  by  his  guidance  as  he 
has  led  them  into  the  mysteries  of  Scripture  ;  for  the 
Christian  before  gainsayers  seeking  to  entrap  him,  and 
shame  or  silence  him  by  their  cunning  interrogatives 
— this  field  of  study  ought  to  have  special  and  peculiar 
interest. 

In  looking  over  the  principal  occasions  when  Christ 
was  approached  by  an  inquirer,  we  shall  find  rich  and 
abundant  material,  to  help  us  in  determining  how  to 
make  reply  when  we  are  face  to  face  with  a  questioner, 
whether  his  inquiry  be  a  cavil,  a  challenge,  an  honest 
desire  to  know,  or  a  helpless  cry. 

I.  It  is  quite  apparent  that  Christ  often  wrapped 
His  answer  in  a  parable.  He  replied  by  a  story.  In 
this  respect  (I  say  it  reverently)  our  martyred  Lincoln 
was  greatly  like  Him.  How  Lincoln  sometimes  shot 
a  man  through  with  an  anecdote !     How  he  laughed 


The  Method  of  Answering  Questions      189 

another  out  of  his  absurdity  by  a  story  !  This  silent, 
sad  man,  with  his  marvellous  intuition,  parried  many 
a  dagger  of  interrogation  thrust  at  him,  by  this  method 
of  reply.  His  stories  were  often  rough  and  crude  ; 
they  smacked  of  the  farm,  and  the  frontier,  and  the 
county  court-house  ;  but  there  was  always  an  irresistible 
point  to  them,  and  now  and  then  an  almost  infinite 
pathos.  Men  went  away  from  him  rebuked,  con- 
founded, captured.  Men  who  could  batter  down  argu- 
ment with  argument,  men  who  could  listen  to  and  re- 
sist his  logic,  who  could  fling  back  challenging  ques- 
tions and  keep  up  a  running  fire  of  hot  discussion, 
could  not  stand  before  one  of  his  irresistible  stories. 
Into  these  were  often  crowded  argument,  illustration, 
tenderness,  appeal ;  and  they  frequently  silenced  where 
they  did  not  convince.  What  Lincoln's  method  was 
in  a  crude,  crass,  but  often  effective  way,  Christ's 
method  was  in  a  finely  fibered  and  flawless  way. 
"  Who  is  my  neighbour  ?"  asked  a  lawyer.  Jesus  did 
not  pick  him  out.  He  told  the  parable  of  the  Good 
Samaritan.  He  did  not  define  the  limits  of  neighbour- 
hood. But  His  story  made  each  one  of  us  kin  to  any 
one  in  need,  and  showed  that  the  question  savoured  of 
narrowness  and  ought  never  to  be  asked.  Men  have 
known  ever  since  that  if  they  found  anywhere  a  man 
with  the  blood  of  the  human  race  in  his  veins  and  in 
need  of  help,  no  matter  of  what  race  or  sect  or  caste  or 
colour,  they  were  to  be  a  neigJibour  to  him  after  the 
deed  and  the  spirit  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  All  the 
moral  dissertations  of  the  centuries  have  not  put  that 
lesson  in  the  world's  heart  like  this  gospel  story. 

Again,  the  question  of  Peter,  "  Lo,  we  have  left  all 
and    followed   Thee ;    what,   then,  shall  we  have  ? " 


igo  Related  Ideals 

brought  out  the  story  of  the  labourers,  all  hired  for  a 
penny  a  day,  though  at  different  hours,  and  each  get- 
ting simply  his  penny ;  thus  teaching  that  it  is  accept- 
ance of  a  condition  and  not  amount  of  toil  that  secures 
us  heaven. 

"  Is  it  lawful  to  heal  on  the  Sabbath  ?  "  they  asked 
Him.  And  seizing  a  common  incident  of  Eastern  life, 
He  answered  :  "  Is  it  lawful  to  help  an  ass  out  of  the 
pit  on  the  Sabbath,  and  wicked  to  help  a  man  out  ?  " 

Incidents,  anecdotes,  word-scenes, — they  are  better 
than  arguments.  They  illuminate,  they  translate 
truth  into  life,  they  take  abstractions  and  put  flesh  and 
blood  on  them.  They  do  not  antagonize.  They  never 
fight.  They  win  their  way.  Logic  cudgels.  Parables 
exhibit.  We  ought  to  have  more  of  them,  and  have 
them  handy,  and  learn  to  grow  facile  in  their  use. 
Many  a  question  can  best  be  answered  by  a  story. 

II.  Another  feature  in  Christ's  method  of  answer- 
ing questions  was  this  :  His  ansvver  embodied  2^ prin- 
ciple rather  than  a  rule.  The  letter  was  nothing  much 
to  Him  ;  the  spirit  was  everything.  Tithing  of  mint 
He  by  no  means  condemned  ;  but  upon  the  weightier 
matters  He  threw  the  infinite  emphasis.  Men  came  to 
Him  asking  questions  in  arithmetic.  And  their  figures 
seemed  impertinences  in  the  spirit  and  sweep  of  His 
answers.  They  asked  for  some  technical  and  formal 
rule.     He  gave  them  a  great  principle. 

One  of  the  scribes  inquired,  '^  Master,  which  is  the 
first  commandment  of  all?"  Christ  did  not  begin  to 
weigh  the  commandments,  one  by  one,  to  see  which 
was  greatest.  He  did  not  pick  out  the  first,  or  the 
third,  or  the  tenth,  and  say,  "  For  reasons  this  is  the 
greatest."      He    said  :     "  The  first  commandment  is, 


The  Method  of  Answering  Questions      191 

Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart. 
And  the  second  is  like  unto  it,  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself."  That  is,  the  second  is  also  first. 
And  there  is  no  first,  no  second.  Love  is  all!  Love 
is  the  fultillment  of  the  whole  law.  Be  not  concerned 
about  which  commandment  is  greatest,  lest  you 
thereby  miss  the  spirit  that  alone  makes  it  possible  to 
obey  at  all. 

So  when  Peter  asks  the  Lord,  "  How  oft  shall  my 
brother  sin  against  me,  and  I  forgive  him  ?  Till  seven 
times  ?  "  Jesus  replies,  "  Not  until  seven  times,  but 
until  seventy  times  seven " ;  that  is,  an  unlimited 
number  of  times ;  that  is,  make  no  count  of  forgive- 
nesses in  the  possession  of  the  spirit  of  forgiveness. 
Forgiveness  is  not  a  sum  in  addition  or  multiplication. 
"  How  many  times  !  "  When  a  man  begins  to  count 
the  times  he  has  pardoned,  the  true  spirit  of  forgive- 
ness is  dead  in  him. 

"  Who  is  my  neighbour  ? "  Does  Christ  answer 
this  question  by  describing  a  neighbour,  pointing  him 
out  and  naming  his  characteristic  ?  No.  That  is 
mechanical,  artificial,  arithmetic  again.  He  exhibits 
and  illustrates  the  neighbourly  spirit.  And  the  Good 
Samaritan  makes  the  whole  world  kin. 

Have  we  not  here  a  very  wholesome  lesson  as  to  the 
method  of  dealing  with  a  very  large  class  of  inquirers  ? 
A  good  deal  of  fog  in  the  field  of  Christian  casuistry 
would  be  dissipated  if  we  answered  inquirers  with  an 
illuminating  principle  rather  than  a  formal  rule. 
None  the  less,  but  rather  the  more,  would  there  be  ab- 
stention from  matters  of  doubtful  expediency,  if  ques- 
tions concerning  them  were  answered  after  this  method 
of  the  Master. 


192  Related  Ideals 

III.  Another  feature  of  Christ's  method  of  meeting 
inquiry  was  this  :  He  inade  much  of  the  Word  of  God. 
He  sent  the  questioner  to  the  Scriptures.  One  would 
think  He  might  have  drawn  upon  His  own  resources. 
He  had  unsearchable  riches  of  wisdom  and  knowledere. 
And  the  use  of  these  would  have  helped  to  establish 
His  claims,  and  could  certainly  have  been  made  over- 
whelming in  every  case  of  inquiry.  But  He  met  ques- 
tion of  friend  and  foe,  of  wavering  faith  and  cavilling 
unbelief,  with  the  Scriptures.  "  To  the  law  and  the 
testimony,"  was  His  constant  word. 

You  ask  for  my  credentials,  He  said  to  the  unbe- 
lieving Jews.  "  Search  the  Scriptures  ;  they  testify 
of  Me."  And  to  answer  the  wondering  query  of 
doubting  disciples,  "  beginning  from  Moses,  He  inter- 
preted to  them  in  all  the  Scriptures  the  things  con- 
cerning Himself." 

^'  Whose  wife  shall  she  be  ?  "  asked  the  skeptical 
Sadducees.  And  Christ's  reply  was :  "  Ye  do  err, 
not  knowhig  the  Scriptures.  Have  ye  not  read  that 
which  was  spoken  unto  you  b}^  God  ?  " 

"  What  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life  ?  "  said  the 
lawyer,  tempting  Him.  *'  What  is  written  m  the 
law  f  "  was  the  prompt  reply.  "  How  readest  thou  ?  " 
And  when  the  lawyer  read  the  law,  Jesus  said,  "  This 
do,  and  thou  shalt  live." 

"  Why  do  the  disciples  that  which  is  not  lawful  on 
the  Sabbath  ?  "  was  the  challenging  question  of  the 
Jews,  as  the  disciples  plucked  ears  of  corn.  "  Have 
ye  never  read  what  David  did  ?  "  was  the  ready  an- 
swer ;  and  back  they  were  sent  to  the  oracles.  "  Is  it 
lawful  for  a  man  to  put  awa}'^  his  wife  for  any  cause  ?'^ 
asked  His  enemies,  tempting  Him.     And  He  answered, 


The  Method  of  Answering  Questions      193 

"  Have  ye  not  read  ?  "  To  the  Scriptures  !  What  is 
written  ?  Did  ye  never  read  ?  How  commonly  did 
He  thus  reply.  Not  much  reasoning ;  little  theolog- 
ical discussion  ;  and  no  philosophy.  What  saith  the 
Word  f 

Here,  as  often  elsewhere,  Moody  was  right.  In  this 
respect  at  least  he  followed  Christ's  method.  The 
positively  best  answer  to  any  question  is  an  "  It  is 
written."  In  our  replies  to  inquirers  let  us  have  less 
of  human  opinion  and  speculation  and  more  of  "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord."  Let  us  open  the  Book  and  find  the 
page  and  read  the  words  ! 

lY.  A  study  of  Christ's  method  of  answering  ques- 
tions discloses  another  feature  :  that  He  looked  at  the 
spirit  of  the  questioner  even  more  than  at  the  letter  of 
the  question. 

He  could.  Often  we  cannot.  His  omniscient  eye 
swept  the  field  of  motive.  He  knew  all  that  was  in 
every  man  that  came  to  Him.  How  little  we  know. 
But  how  desirable  that  we  shoidd  know — know  some- 
thing, at  least,  of  the  posture  of  the  questioner's  mind. 
Hence  the  need  of  turning  inquirer  and  ascertaining 
the  occasion  of  the  question,  the  motive  behind  it,  the 
attitude  towards  truth,  whether  doubt  is  born  of  fear 
that  a  thing  may  be  false,  or  of  a  wish  that  it  were 
false,  before  we  make  answer.  Diagnosis  before  pre- 
scription is  as  good  in  casuistry  as  in  therapeutics. 

See,  now,  how  Christ  devoted  His  answer  to  the 
spirit  of  the  man  who  asked  Him  a  question,  meeting 
the  real  need  of  the  inquirer  first,  and  making  the 
letter  of  the  inquiry  second  and  subordinate. 

Some  came  to  Him  with  idle  curiosity.  "  Are  there 
few  that  be  saved  ?  "  asked  one.    Did  Christ  go  into  a 


194 


Related  Ideals 


calculation,  counting  up  infants  and  covering  cen- 
turies ?  No  !  The  inquirer  seemed  more  interested 
in  a  matter  of  arithmetic  than  of  conscience.  And  to 
loose  him  of  his  folly,  Jesus  said,  in  substance,  in  an- 
swer to  the  question,  Are  there  few  that  be  saved  ? 
See  that  you  are.  "  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait 
gate,"  is  His  searching,  solemn  word  ;  "  for  many,  I 
say  unto  you,  shall  seek  to  enter  in  and  shall  not  be 
able."  Which  was  as  if  He  had  said  :  It  is  amazing 
folly  to  be  paltering  and  pothering  with  a  question  of 
statistics  in  connection  with  salvation,  when  so  many 
miss  the  way,  and  you  may  he  among  them  !  And  yet 
Christ  meets  the  letter  of  the  inquiry  before  He  gets 
through,  and  clearly  implies  that  a  great  multitude 
shall  be  saved  when  He  says :  "  They  shall  come 
from  the  east  and  from  the  west,  and  from  the  north 
and  from  the  south,  and  shall  sit  down  in  the  kingdom 
of  God." 

Again  they  question  Him,  and  now  it  is  the  dis- 
ciples who  are  the  inquirers,  saying,  "Who  is  the 
greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ?  "  Did  He  speak 
of  Moses,  or  Elijah,  or  John  the  Baptist  ?  He  takes  a 
little  child,  sets  him  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  makes 
answer  :  *'  Except  ye  become  as  little  children  ye  shall 
in  no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  And 
they  were  shot  through  with  the  shame  and  sin  of 
their  pride.  And  yet  the  letter  of  their  inquiry  gets 
answer  ;  for  Christ's  reply  is  as  if  He  had  said,  "  The 
humblest ;  he  is  the  greatest." 

"  When  shall  these  things  be  ?  "  asked  the  disciples, 
as  they  heard  Christ  speak  of  the  coming  of  the  Son 
of  Man,  and  of  the  end  of  the  world.  And  Christ's 
answer  substantially  is,  "Dates,  times,  seasons,  the 


The  Method  of  Answering  Questions      195 

day  and  the  hour — what  are  these  ?  Be  ye  ready. 
That  is  the  vital  matter." 

"  What  shall  this  man  do  ?  "  is  another  question  of 
idle  curiosity  that  is  met  with  "  What  is  that  to  thee? 
Follow  thou  Me." 

"  Lo,  we  have  left  all.  What  shall  we  have  ? " 
Still  it  is  speculation  and  surmise  as  to  matters  of  no 
eternal  moment.  And  while  Christ  answers  that  they 
shall  have  a  hundredfold,  He  adds,  *'  But  many  that 
are  first  shall  be  last,  and  the  last  first" — that  is, 
"  Have  a  care  !  Be  not  too  eao^er  about  what  ve  shall 
have.  The  heavenly  riches  are  not  for  those  who  are 
thinking  more  of  what  they  have  given  up  and  what 
they  are  to  get,  than  of  what  they  were,  and  are,  and 
ought  to  be." 

So  the  Master  always  sought  to  meet  the  deeper 
need  hetrayed  in  the  sj)irit  of  the  questioner  rather 
than  the  surface  need  indicated  hy  the  question.  This 
should  be  our  way. 

Y.  Still  further,  in  considering  Christ's  method  of 
reply,  it  will  be  found  that  He  often  answered  one 
question  by  asking  another.  But  almost  invariably 
this  was  when  the  question  was  in  the  line  of  chal- 
lenge or  rebuke. 

"  Why  do  Thy  disciples  transgress  the  traditions  of 
the  elders  ? "  they  loftily  asked.  And  the  answer 
came,  "  Why  do  ye  transgress  the  commandment  of 
God  by  your  tradition  ?  "  They  had  assumed  there 
was  something  wrong  in  Christ's  deed  or  speech.  His 
reply  showed  them  that  they  were  guilty  of  a  deeper 
wrong.  "  Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar  ?  "  they 
questioned.  Jesus  perceived  their  wickedness  and 
said  :     "  Why  tempt  ye  Me,  ye  hypocrites  ?  "    And 


196  Related  Ideals 

holding  up  a  penny,  He  asked,  "  Whose  is  this  image 
and  superscription  ? "  And,  compelled  to  answer, 
"  Caesar's  "  ;  Christ's  swift  reply  was,  "  Then  render 
unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God 
the  things  that  are  God's."  And  seeking  to  entangle 
Him,  they  themselves  got  enmeshed. 

YI.  Still  another  method  of  Christ's  reply  to 
questioners  was  by  silence.  He  sometimes  answered 
nothing. 

"  Hearest  Thou  not  how  many  things  they  witness 
against  Thee  ?  "  asked  Pilate.  "  And  He  gave  him  no 
answer,  not  even  to  one  word."  "  What !  Carest 
Thou  not  what  is  said  of  Thee  ?  Hast  Thou  no  de- 
fense ?  "  And  the  lips  that  could  blast  those  perjurers 
were  still. 

Again,  at  the  cross,  they  rail  on  Him,  wagging  their 
heads,  saying,  "  He  saved  others  ;  Himself  He  cannot 
save."  And  amidst  that  questioning  and  challenging 
Babel  of  hell  the  Son  of  God  is  silent ;  He  answers 
nothing. 

The  disciple  is  not  above  his  Master.  There  may 
be  times  in  our  lives  when  a  challenging  question  will 
best  be  met  by  silence.  We  may  suffer  thereby.  The 
unspoken  answer,  if  uttered,  might  free  from  suspicion, 
rid  us  of  calumny,  vindicate  us  before  an  onlooking 
crowd,  save  us  from  the  shame  of  seeming  to  be  weak 
and  false  ;  yet  it  may  be  better  that  the  word  be  left 
unspoken.  Doubtless  this  is  one  of  the  bitterest  acids 
that  can  be  applied  to  the  coin  of  Christian  integrity. 
It  may  cut  to  the  quick  to  be  thus  questioned  and  an- 
swer not  a  word  ;  but  the  spirit  of  glory  and  of  God 
is  on  us  then.  So  the  Master  walked  on  silently, 
w^hen  they  thrust  their  sneering,  jeering  questions  at 


The  Method  of  Answering  Questions       197 

Him.  But  it  was  the  way  to  His  crown  and  king- 
dom ! 

VII.  And  now,  the  question  of  questions,  What 
shall  I  do  to  be  saved?  How  did  Christ  answer  that  ? 
Certainly  not  by  laboured  reasoning  ;  nor  by  some 
speciJSc  and  unchanging  formula.  He  had  no  set  an- 
swer of  any  kind  as  a  reply  to  an  inquiring  soul,  seek- 
ing to  know  how  to  get  rid  of  sin,  and  to  obtain  eter- 
nal life.  He  knew  the  exact  posture  of  every  inquir- 
er's mind  that  came  to  Him,  and  His  answer  was  ex- 
actly adapted  to  tJiut  j-X^Tticular  attitude  of  mind.  It 
suited  the  case.  It  met  the  questioner's  difficulty,  and 
answered  to  his  need.  So  far  as  possible  we  should 
see  to  it  that  our  answer  is  like  Christ's  in  its  adapta- 
tion to  the  inquirer's  need. 

But  how  can  this  be?  We  are  not  diviners  of 
hearts  as  Christ  was.  Well,  what  does  the  physician 
for  the  body  do,  when  called  to  a  case  ?  He  makes  a 
diagnosis,  before  he  makes  a  prescription.  To  tell 
one,  who  comes  asking  what  he  must  do  to  be  saved, 
to  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  might  not  touch 
the  secret  of  the  difficulty  with  Mm  /  for  it  might  not 
be  the  point  of  the  Spirit's  striving.  Paul  told  the 
Philippian  jailer  to  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
That  answ^er  suited  the  case.  But  Peter  told  the  Jews 
at  Pentecost,  in  answer  to  the  very  same  question,  to 
repent.  And  Jesus  told  the  rich  young  man  who  came 
asking  what  he  should  do  to  inherit  eternal  life,  "  Go 
and  sell  all  that  thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor."  And 
to  the  people  at  Mt.  Carmel  who  came  "  halting  be- 
tween two  opinions "  ("  limping  between  the  two 
sides")  Elijah  said,  "  If  the  Lord  be  God,  follow  Him. 
If  Baal,  then  follow  him."     In  other  words,  choose. 


198  Related  Ideals 

Make  up  your  minds.  When  an  inquirer  is  "  halting 
between  two  opinions,"  hesitating,  wavering,  it  is  not  a 
question  of  repentance  or  of  faith,  but  of  decision^  of 
choice.  The  mere  act  of  choice  carries  everything 
with  it. 

Three  things  thus  mark  Christ's  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion, What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ? 

1.  They  put  it  past  all  shadow  of  doubt,  that  the 
door  is  open  to  every  honest  inquirer. 

2.  They  put  it  past  all  doubt  that  the  door  is 
Christ. 

3.  They  put  it  past  all  doubt  that  no  inquirer  is 
to  be  set  to  doing  anything  which  in  the  doing  will 
not  give  salvation. 

Clearly  any  answer  that  does  not  send  the  inquirer 
straight  to  Jesus  Christ,  is  big  with  possibilities  of 
false  guidance  and  disaster. 

"  The  heart  of  the  righteous  studieth  to  answer " 
(Prov.  15  :  28). 


XV 
METHODS  OF  PEEACHING 


SYLLABUS 

Comprehensively,    three   methods  :    Extempore,    Manuscript,    and 
Memoriter. 
Extempore. 
I.     Exact  definition. 
II.     Nothing  inherent  in  mental  structure  to  forbid  this. 

III.  Reasons  for  beginning  one's  ministry  with  its  practice  :  (a)  it  is 

the  ideal  delivery  ;  (6)  occasions  sometimes  make  it  necessary  ; 
(c)  saves  time  for  study. 

IV.  Direct  advantages  over  other  methods  :  (a)  mind  is  stimulated  by 

reproduction  ;  (6)  greater  animation  in  delivery ;  (c)  face  to  face 
contact  with  audience;  (d)  greater  power  of  riveting  atten- 
tion; (e)  reaction  from  the  audience;  (/)  freedom  to  follow 
leadings  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

V.  Essentials  to  success  :  (a)  thorough  premeditation;  (5)  self-pos- 

session ;  (c)  persistent  practice. 

VI.  Helps  to  facility  :  (a)  a  full   and   careful   syllabus  or   brief  ; 

(6)  be  satisfied  at  first  with  simplicity  and  accuracy  ;  (c)  let 
trifling  mistakes  in  language  go  ;  {d)  be  diligent  in  the  gen- 
eral study  of  words  :  (1)  by  frequent  reference  to  a  good  book 
of  synonyms  ;  ( 2 )  by  careful  speech  in  ordinary  conversa- 
tion ;  (  3)  by  careful  writing  ;  (e)  guard  against  mistaking  mere 
fluency  of  speech  for  extemporaneous  ability  ;  (/)  begin  ex- 
temporizing at  the  outset,  and  let  the  practice  be  uniform 
once  every  Sabbath  ;  {g)  do  not  as  a  rule  use  prepared  para- 
graphs ;  {h)  get  an  uplifted  soul. 

VII.  Objections  to  extempore  preaching  :  (a)  apt  to  be  rambling  and 

desultory ;   (&)  apt  to  be  superficial ;  (e)  apt  to  lack  balanced 
treatment ;  {d)  great  tendency  to  neglect  thorough  prepara- 
tion. 
Four  safe-guards  :     (1)  Thorough  mental  discipline.     (2)  Wide  re- 
sources of  knowledge.    (3)  Facility  in  using  these  resources.    (4)  Dili- 
gence in  adding  to  them. 
Manuscript. 
I.     Use  of  manuscript  does  not  make  the  user  any  the  less  a  preacher. 


II.  Reasons  in  favour  :  (a)  writing  improves  style  ;  (b)  tends  to  give 

clearness  to  thought;  (c)  gives  greater  compactness;  (d)  gives 
relief  to  the  miud  in  delivery  ;  (e)  likelihood  of  securing  well- 
balanced  treatment ;  (/)  allows  more  undivided  attention  to 
devotional  parts  of  service. 
III.  Objection  to  manuscript  preaching  :  («)  liable  to  lack  direct  ad- 
dress ;  (b)  mechanical  delivery ;  (c)  lessened  probability  of  rivet- 
ing attention. 
3femoriter. 

I.     Favourite  method  of  the  ancients,  owing  to  marvellous  cultiva- 
tion of  memory. 
II.     Advantiiges  :     (a)  Looking  and  speaking  directly  to  audience  ; 
(b)  langnage  already  prepared  ;  (c)  giving  one's  self  wholly 
to  delivery. 
But,  an  indispensable  proviso  :  that  the  memory  recall  without  con- 
scious effort. 

III.  Disadvantages :  (a)  the  labour  required  to  write  and  commit ; 

(&)  the  tendency  to  mechanical  delivery ;  (c)  the  fear  of  pos- 
sible failure ;  (d)  the  bondage  to  an  already  prescribed  course  ; 
the  claimed  freedom,  only  an  apparent  freedom  ;  the  introverted 
look  betrays  the  bondage. 
Indispensable  to  ideal  memoriter  preaching  is  a  memory  swift  to  act; 
and  that  never  slips. 

Indispensable  to  ideal  manuscript  preaching  is  complete  master}'^  of 
the  subject-matter,  and  complete  familiarity  with  its  verbal  form. 

Indispensable  to  ideal  extempore  preaching  is  just  as  complete 
mastery  of  the  subject-matter,  but  no  slavery  whatever  to  any  verbal 
form.  All  the  advantage  of  the  pull  from  without  which  the  audience 
gives,  is  joined  to  all  the  advantage  of  the  push  from  within  which 
meditation  and  study  and  prayer  have  given,  making  extempore 
preaching  the  ideal  of  the  ideals. 

A  consensus  of  opinion,  as  to  choice  of  method. 
Helps  in  determining  method. 


XV 

METHODS  OF  PKEACHIXG 

THERE  are,  comprehensively,  three  methods 
of  preaching  :  The  extemporaneous  method, 
the  manuscript  method,  and  the  memoriter 
method.  And  each  of  these  methods  has  its  distinct 
and  definite  ideal.  Other  metliods  are  simply  com- 
binations or  modifications  of  these,  and  may  be  classed 
under  some  one  of  these  three  broad  generic  divisions. 

Extemporaneous  PREACHiNa 

I.  First  of  all,  let  us  have  clearly  in  mind  the  exact 
meaning  of  the  phrase,  extemporaneous  preaching. 

Negatively  :  (a)  It  is  not  meant  that  such  preach- 
ing is  wholly  impromptu,  off-hand,  the  birth  of  the 
hour.  It  is  indeed  extempore — for  the  time ;  but 
not  from  the  time,  as  if  the  sermon  were  the  product 
of  the  particular  instant  of  delivery.  Such  utterly  un- 
premeditated discourse  could  only  be  made  effective 
on  rare  occasions,  and  after  long  and  severe  mental 
discipline ;  unless,  indeed,  it  came  by  direct  inspiration 
of  God.  Preaching  without  preparation  has  led  to  a 
great  deal  of  superficial,  rambling  talk  in  the  pulpit, 
without  ideas  and  without  power.  And  it  has  brought 
this  whole  matter  of  extemporaneous  pulpit  discourse 
into  disrepute. 

(h)  Kor  is  extemporaneous  preaching  extempore  in 
the  sense  of  being  "  from  all  the  time,"  as  Dr.  Shedd 

203 


204  Related  Ideals 

suggests :  ^  the  result  of  the  whole  life  and  culture  of 
the  preacher.  It  does  undoubtedly  embody,  and  is  a 
resultant  of,  all  his  past  labour  and  discipline  and  accu- 
mulation. But  this  is  just  as  true  of  the  other  methods 
of  preaching.  It  is  equally  the  case  with  the  written 
and  the  memoriter  discourse ;  and,  therefore,  it  does 
not  define,  or  distinctly  characterize,  the  extempore 
method.  What  is  true  of  all  three  methods  cannot  be 
the  differentiating  feature  of  any  single  method. 

Positively  :  Extemporaneous  preaching,  in  its  best 
accepted  sense,  is  ex-tem-po-re,  from  the  time,  as  to  the 
language  alone.  It  gets  its  clothing  of  words  on  the 
instant  of  delivery  ;  and  commonly  it  gets  nothing 
more.  The  theme,  the  plan  of  treatment,  the  order  of 
the  thought,  the  arguments  and  illustrations,  the  en- 
tire subject-matter  of  the  discourse,  may  have  been, 
and  should  have  been,  premeditated  and  prearranged. 
But  the  language  is  the  hirth  of  the  hour,  born  in  the 
very  process  of  delivery  ;  ex-tem-po-re. 

This,  therefore,  is  the  difference,  and  it  should  be 
the  only  difference,  between  written  and  extempo- 
raneous discourse.  They  have  the  same  antecedents  of 
discipline,  study,  reflection,  experience.  Produced  by 
the  same  mind,  in  like  conditions,  the  same  logical 
order,  the  same  mastery  of  the  subject,  and  the  same 
breadth  and  depth  and  clearness  of  thought,  may  pre- 
v^ail  in  the  extempore  as  in  the  written  discourse. 

II.  There  is  nothing  inherent  in  mental  structure 
to  forbid  an  extempore  oral  expression  of  premeditated 
thought,  when  such  an  expression  is  possible  hy  the 
pen.  The  varied  powers  of  the  mind  are  not  shut  up 
to  the  written  symbol.     The  form  the  thought  shall 

i"Homiletics,"  p.  219. 


Methods  of  Preaching  205 

take  is  so  secondary  a  matter  that  discipline  and 
practice  may  make  a  reasonably  good  form  possible  in 
extempore  speech  to  any  one  thinking  that  thought. 
The  difficulty  is  certainly  not  in  the  constitution  of 
the  human  mind.  It  is  in  the  circumstances — the  things 
outside  the  mind,  "  standing  around  "  ;  such  as  the  pres- 
ence of  critical  and  cultured  hearers,  the  importance 
of  the  occasion,  past  mistakes,  and  partial  failures — of 
which  any  man  may  measurably  be  the  master. 

III.  The  reasons  for  beginning  and  continuing 
one's  ministry  with  the  practice  of  extempore 
preaching. 

Negatively  :  {a)  Not  because  our  Lord  and  His 
apostles  thus  preached.  Christ  spake  as  never  man 
spake.  He  knew  men  ;  could  read  their  hearts.  He 
knew  God,  He  was  God,  and,  therefore.  He  could  be 
no  model  or  precedent  for  us  in  this  matter  of  ex- 
tempore speech.  He  did  not  need  to  make  prepara- 
tion in  order  to  preach  the  sermon  on  the  mount. 
Dr.  Storrs  speaks  of  the  extempore  as  the  apostolic 
method.  But  we  must  beware  of  quoting  apostolic 
example  in  this  matter  lest  we  get  Balaam's  ass  in  the 
pulpit  without  the  ass's  inspiration. 

(J))  Not  because  all  preachers  can  become  pre- 
eminent extemporizers.  It  is  only  given  to  the  few 
to  rise  to  the  full  height  of  effectiveness  and  pulpit 
power  possible  by  this  method. 

But,  on  the  positive  side,  the  reasons  for  the  frequent 
and  persistent  practice  of  extemporaneous  preaching 
are  clear  and  unmistakable. 

{a)  It  is  the  ideal  delivery— the  perfection  of 
oratory.  It  is  the  most  direct  way  of  speaking  to 
men.     It  is  a  living  man  pouring  out  his  heart  to 


2o6  Related  Ideals 

living  men,  in  the  mode  which  nature  prompts — a 
free,  flowing,  animated  utterance,  a  lifting  up  of  the 
soul  into  the  eyes,  a  tingling  of  passion  to  the  very 
finger-tips,  a  glow  in  the  whole  mien  and  the  whole 
man,  such  as  is  impossible  by  any  other  method. 
Hence  the  best  extempore  preaching  is  not  only  the 
best  of  its  kind,  but  it  is  better  than  the  best  of  any 
other  kind. 

(h)  Again :  Occasions  are  frequently  arising  in 
the  ministry  where  extemporaneous  speech  is  greatly 
desirable,  and  sometimes  even  imperative.  Grave 
questions  in  ecclesiastical  bodies  are  not  infrequently 
decided  by  a  single  speech,  elicited  in  the  heat  of 
debate,  and  precluding  the  possibility  of  written  dis- 
course. And  facility  in  extemporaneous  effort  may 
make  just  the  difference  between  victory  and  defeat 
in  such  a  case. 

Unexpected  emergencies  also,  startling  providences, 
a  great  calamity,  may  make  it  desirable  to  speak  upon 
a  topic  for  which  there  is  absolutely  no  time  for 
written  preparation,  and  upon  which,  nevertheless,  it 
may  be  to  the  last  degree  important  that  the  man  of 
God  should  speak.  Opportunities  of  great  usefulness 
will  thus  be  lost  to  a  minister  who  does  not  trust  him- 
self to  pulpit  discourse  without  a  manuscript.^ 

^  Spurgeon  of  London  had  agreed  to  preach  in  his  father's  pulpit  cue 
Sabbath  morning.  But  as  the  hour  for  service  approached,  and  the 
substitute  did  not  put  in  an  appearance,  the  father  felt  that  he  him- 
self would  have  to  do  the  preaching.  So  he  hurriedly  looked  up  a 
text,  and  lighted  upon  this  :  *'  By  grace  have  ye  been  saved  through 
faith;  and  that  not  of  yourselves;  it  is  the  gift  of  God  "  (Eph.  2  :  8). 
When  he  had  concluded  the  discussion  of  the  first  head,  "  By  grace 
have  ye  been  saved,"  he  saw  his  son  enter  the  church  door,  and  he 
said,  "Ah,  there  he  is;  he  will  come  up  ernd  finish  the  sermon/^    And 


Methods  of  Preaching  207 

But  with  facility  in  extemporaneous  effort  once 
acquired  he  may  improve  all  sucli  occasions  without 
personal  mortification,  and  to  the  sure  profit  of  his 
hearers.  We  may  even  go  further  than  this,  and  say 
there  will  be  occasions  he  is  bound  to  improve,  places 
and  times  in  which  there  may  be  a  sacred  obligation 
to  preach  the  Gospel,  with  no  possibility  of  written 
preparation,  and  no  use  for  it  if  it  were  possible  ;  yet 
where  silence  would  be  recreancy  to  duty,  and  would 
surely  bring  loss  of  influence.  Never  should  a 
preacher  of  Christ's  Gospel  be  so  bound  and  tram- 
melled by  the  necessity  of  a  manuscript  as  to  suffer 
"  the  mortification  of  being  silent  when  he  ought  to 
speak,  is  expected  to  speak,  and  would  do  good  by 
speaking."  It  is  exposing  Christian  ambassadorship 
to  the  charge  of  imbecility,  and  is  a  dishonour  to  God. 
It  furnishes  ground  for  the  stinging  interrogative 
of  Fenelon :  "  Shall  the  preacher  not  venture  to 
speak  of  God  to  his  people,  without  having  arranged 
all  his  words,  and  learned  like  a  schoolboy  his  lesson 
by  heart  ?  " 

(c)  Still  again:  The  habit  of  extemporaneous 
preaching  saves  time  for  study.  The  man  of  God 
must  be  a  student,  thoroughly  furnished.  Amidst  the 
pressure  of  engagements  in  connection  with  his  work 
he  will  more  and  more  feel  the  need  of  redeeming  the 
hours  which  he  can  devote  to  profitable  study  and  re- 
search. He  who  writes  his  sermons  must  ordinarily 
take  the  working  hours  of  at  least  two  or  three  da3^s 
in  the  mere  manual  labour.     The  time  of  writing  at 

Charles  went  to  the  pulpit,  got  from  his  father  the  exact  situation, 
and  finished  the  sermon  on  that  text,  taking  the  clause,  "through 
faith,*'  as  the  second  bead  of  the  unfinished  discourse. 


2o8  Related  Ideals 

least  one  sermon  should  be  saved  to  him  by  the  ex- 
temporaneous method.  That  much  can  then  be  spared 
to  devote  to  mental  discipline  and  accumulation.  And 
in  the  course  of  years  the  gain  in  intellectual  equip- 
ment and  power  would  be  simply  incalculable. 

Of  course,  it  is  not  meant  by  this  that  there  is  to  be 
the  least  abatement  of  the  toil  of  preparation  for  ex- 
tempore discourse.  Ko  lessened  labour  and  time  is  to 
be  thought  of  or  tolerated,  save  as  it  is  involved  in  the 
mere  writing  out  of  the  premeditated  discourse. 

{d)  Another  reason  favouring  extempore  effort  is 
this :  When  creditable  and  efficient  it  is  held  in  high 
public  esteem.  Facility  of  speech  is  attractive  to  men. 
It  commands  attention.  It  awakens  interest.  It 
gives  influence  and  power,  because  it  is  supposed  to 
indicate  ability  and  power.  Doubtless  the  public 
judgment  is  often  at  fault  in  this  matter.  Beyond  all 
question,  fluency  of  utterance  is  often  mistaken  for 
depth  and  capacity  and  wealth  of  resource.  It  is  an 
erroneous  standard  of  judgment.  But  in  spite  of  all 
that  may  be  said  by  way  of  exception,  the  extempo- 
raneous effort  is  nearest  to  nature's  method,  and  gifts 
in  this  direction  will  be  highly  esteemed  by  the  mass 
of  hearers.  It  is  therefore  a  clear  consideration, 
urging  to  the  faithful  and  persistent  cultivation  of 
these  gifts  by  every  preacher  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

lY.     The  direct  advantages  over  other  methods. 

{a)  One  capital  advantage  is,  the  mind  must  repeat 
the  process  of  production,  and  "  re-present  to  itself  in 
a  living  form  the  whole  thought  and  emotion  of  the 
discourse."  It  must  summon  up  and  clothe  with  flesh 
and  blood,  and  set  before  men,  that  which  has  had  ex- 
istence only  in  the  mind  of  the  preacher.     It  is  there- 


Methods  of  Preaching  209 

fore  a  kind  of  second  hirth  that  is  given  to  a  discourse, 
in  the  act  of  extemporaneous  delivery.  This  very 
effort  of  invention  is  necessarily  stimulative.  The 
mind  is  roused  and  vivified  in  the  process.  There  is 
no  such  action  called  for  in  preaching  from  the  manu- 
script, and  hence  there  is  less  likelihood  of  spiritual 
infection  and  of  summoning  into  play  all  the  activi- 
ties and  sympathies  of  the  preacher's  soul.  Feeling  is 
born  of  mental  action ;  and  intense  mental  action  will 
produce  corresponding  increase  of  feeling ;  and  in- 
tensest  action  and  emotion  project  the  most  into  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  an  audience. 

(h)  Greater  animation  and  earnestness  in  delivery 
is  another  advantage  of  the  extempore  method  over 
other  methods. 

As  the  thoughts  rise  fresh  in  the  mind  and  quicken 
the  sensibilities,  the  effort  to  give  them  expression  in 
speech  engenders  warmth  of  utterance.  Excited  sensi- 
bilities will  make  a  more  fitting  mould  for  the  thoughts, 
give  naturalness  to  gesture  by  giving  it  freedom  and 
meaning,  and  the  whole  action  and  speech  will  be  sur- 
charged with  energy  and  vigour. 

{c)  The  consciousness  of  speaking  face  to  face  with 
the  audience  is  another  advantage. 

Extemporaneous  preaching  tends  inevitably  to  more 
direct  address.  Style  is  less  involved,  less  abstract. 
The  speaker  is  in  immediate  contact  with  his  audience, 
and  the  contact  is  undisturbed  by  frequent  reference 
to  a  manuscript,  thrust  as  it  were  between  himself  and 
his  hearers.  And  this  speaking  directly  to  an  audi- 
ence gives : 

{d)  The  greater  power  of  riveting  attention  and 
arousing  sympathy. 


210  Related  Ideals 

He  can  best  get  another's  attention,  and  secure  heed 
to  what  he  has  to  say,  who  looks  his  listener  in  the 
face.  The  Germans  have  an  expressive  way  of  saying 
that  if  a  man  has  anything  of  importance  to  tell,  and 
would  have  another  disposed  to  listen  to  him,  he  must 
say  his  say  "  between  four  eyes."  Surely  to  take  a 
paper  out  of  the  pocket  and  read  it  to  him  would  be  a 
piece  of  gross  stupidity,  pardonable  only  where  exact- 
ness in  the  very  words  was  needed  as  a  matter  of 
record. 

{e)  The  reaction  of  the  attention  and  sympathy  of 
the  audience  on  the  speaker,  is  a  further  advantage  of 
the  extemporaneous  method. 

Living  contact  with  aroused  and  sympathizing  minds 
will  stir  to  an  action  of  intellect  and  an  eloquence 
of  expression  impossible  in  the  quiet  of  the  study.  If 
the  discourse  is  written,  this  reaction  can  be  of  little 
service  to  the  preacher,  for  his  thought  has  already 
received  a  fixed  form,  from  which  he  is  not  likely  to 
break  away.  But  in  extemporaneous  discourse,  this 
reaction  has  full  play  to  quicken,  purify,  and  elevate 
the  speaker's  mind,  to  flood  his  heart  more  fully  with 
the  emotions  he  sees  kindled  in  his  hearers  ;  and  there- 
fore to  give  his  glowing  thought  a  better,  intenser  ex- 
pression. There  is  a  mighty  "  pull  from  without  "  as 
well  as  a  "  push  from  within."  Sometimes  preachers 
are  almost  lifted  off  their  feet  by  this  inspiration. 
And  it  is  then  they  lift  their  audiences  to  heights  of 
feeling  and  spiritual  power  otherwise  unattainable. 

{/)  Freedom  to  follow  the  unanticipated  sugges- 
tions and  leadings  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  is  a  still  fur- 
ther advantage  of  the  extemporaneous  method. 

The  Holy  Spirit's  assistance  should  always  be  sought 


Methods  of  Preaching  211 

and  expected  in  the  delivery  of  pulpit  discourse, 
whether  it  be  written  or  unwritten.  That  the  Spirit 
does  sometimes  give  such  aid,  illuminations,  elevations, 
enlargements,  will  not  be  questioned.  That  all  such 
experiences  are  traceable  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  not 
claimed.  That  they  may  be  His  work,  who  will  dare 
deny.  Now  he  who  has  his  manuscript  before  him  is 
liable  to  restrict  himself  to  what  he  has  written.  He 
is  in  greater  peril,  therefore,  of  ignoring  or  disregard- 
ing the  Spirit's  leadings  in  actual  delivery.  The  ex- 
temporaneous preacher,  with  no  restraint  of  already 
written  discourse  upon  him,  is  free  to  accept  the  slight- 
est suggestion,  and  to  profit  by  the  invoked  assistance 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  whose  liberty  in  sacred  discourse, 
Calvin  impressively  says:  "no  possible  danger  must 
be  permitted  to  abridge."  "  In  general,"  says  John 
Newton,  "  the  best  and  most  useful  parts  of  ray  sermon 
occur  de  novo  while  I  am  preaching."  ^ 

V.  The  essentials  to  success  in  extemporaneous 
preaching. 

(a)  The  first  essential  to  success  is  thorough  pre- 
meditation :  subject-matter  for  mastery,  and  the 
mastery  of  the  subject-matter.  Let  this  be  made  sure, 
before  and  above  all  else.  "  Abundance  of  matter  be- 
gets abundance  of  words,"  says  Cicero.  But  it  does 
not  always  contain,  as  Tyndall  says  non-living  matter 
does,  "  the  promise  and  potency  of  life."  All  else  in 
a  sermon  is  secondary  to  its  contents.  And  the  prepar- 
ation of  the  matter  should  be  more  thorough  in  un- 
written than  in  written  discourse,  for  it  is  commonly 
the  all  in  all  in  extemporaneous  preaching.  The  pre- 
paratory work  of  the  written  sermon  may  be  revised 

*  *  ♦  Letters  to  a  Student. ' ' 


212  Related  Ideals 

in  the  process  of  Writing.  But  the  preparatory  work 
of  the  extemporaneous  sermon  cannot  possibly  be  re- 
vised in  the  process  of  actual  delivery.  And  the  ex- 
temporized product  will  be  as  the  premeditated  matter. 
If  the  preparation  has  been  faulty,  hurried,  superficial, 
illogical,  these  faults  will  inevitably  appear  in  the  ser- 
mon. Therefore,  no  abatement  of  honest,  earnest, 
hard  labour  is  to  be  by  any  possibility  allowed,  in  pre- 
paring the  matter  of  extempore  discourse.  Self- 
indulgence  here  will  inevitably  prevent  efficiency. 
Neglect  at  this  point  will  ensure  and  perpetuate  fail- 
ure. Hence  the  preacher  should  make  it  a  matter  of 
principle  and  conscience  to  allow  no  readiness  or  flu- 
ency of  speech,  no  temptation  to  self-confidence,  no 
pressure  of  other  work,  nothing  whatever  save  abso- 
lute necessity,  to  keep  him  from  the  most  thorough 
and  painstaking  fidelity  in  premeditation. 

This  premeditation  involves,  just  as  in  written  dis- 
course before  the  act  of  writing,  (1)  a  distinct  concep- 
tion of  the  subject  to  be  treated,  and  of  the  object  to 
be  accomplished,  a  logical  and  orderly  plan  of  treat- 
ment, and  the  full  collection  and  arrangement  of  ma- 
terials for  explanation,  proof,  and  illustration. 

It  also  involves,  (2)  a  personal  active  interest  in, 
and  sympathy  with,  the  theme,  the  occasion,  and  the 
hearers. 

This,  too,  belongs  to  the  written  discourse,  but  it  is 
preeminently  requisite  in  extempore  effort,  and  is  to 
be  secured  by  the  same  means  ;  namely,  by  meditation 
on  the  occasion  for  which  preparation  is  made,  on  the 
object  in  view,  on  the  theme  to  be  treated,  and  by 
prayer.  The  Athenian  Pericles  could  not  ascend  the 
bema  without  an  earnest  invocation  to  the  immortal 


Methods  of  Preaching  213 

gods  for  their  assistance.  Surely,  for  an  aroused  in- 
terest and  sympathy  in  ascending  a  pulpit  to  handle 
the  deep  things  of  the  Gospel,  there  can  be  nothing  so 
effectual  as   earnest  pra3^er  to  the  God  of  the  Gospel. 

(b)  Another  essential  to  success  in  extemporaneous 
preaching  is  self-j>ossession. 

Not  the  self-possession  of  inordinate  vanity  and  self- 
conceit.  Men  have  this  and  mount  the  pulpit,  and 
never  trip  in  extemporaneous  discourse;  but  they  are 
"as  sounding  brass  or  a  tinkling  cymbal."  They  may 
captivate  some  ears,  may  impose  for  a  time  on  some 
judgments,  but  neither  in  them  nor  in  their  speech  does 
power  lie.  Self-observation,  the  thinking  how  one  is 
doing  it,  is  utterly  incompatible  with  true  eloquence. 
The  self-possession  born  of  conceited  assurance  is  un- 
spiritual,  and  not  only  not  to  be  coveted,  but  to  be 
cast  out  and  trodden  under  foot. 

The  self-possession  or  confidence  of  the  pulpit  should 
be  born  of  confidence  in  the  promised  assistance  of 
God.  Proficiency  in  this  direction  is  the  child  of  piety 
and  grace.  To  be  lifted  above  hampering  and  un- 
nerving fear  as  in  the  sight  of  men,  one  needs  to  be 
filled  with  holy  fear  as  in  the  sight  of  God.  This 
is  the  only  foundation  for  true  self-possession.  ^ 

And  this  is  entirely  compatible  with  two  things:  (1) 
A  tremor  and  agitation  more  or  less  manifest  to 
consciousness,  and  even  to  the  observation  of  others, 
just  prior  to  and  at  the  outset  of  extemporaneous  ef- 
fort. Cicero  "  grew  pale  at  the  beginning  of  a  speech 
and  felt  a  tremor  in  every  part  of  his  frame."     "  I  am 

'  "  Thon  therefore  gird  up  thy  loins  and  arise  and  speak  unto  them 
all  that  I  command  thee :  be  not  dismayed  at  their  faces,  lest  I  con- 
found thee  before  them  "  (Jer.  1 :  17). 


214  Related  Ideals 

now  an  old  man,''  said  Luther,  "  and  have  been  a  long 
time  occupied  in  preaching,  but  I  never  ascend  the 
pulpit  without  a  tremor."  ^  Let  one  realize  what  the 
work  is  to  which  he  is  set,  the  sacred ness  and  re- 
sponsibility and  possible  consequence  of  each  act  of 
delivery  of  pulpit  discourse,  and  he  can  hardly  be  un- 
moved in  its  anticipation  and  performance.  But  this 
agitation  will  disappear  as  the  preacher  is  lifted,  by 
absorption  in  his  theme  and  by  the  fullness  of  the 
Spirit,  above  all  regard  to  self  and  the  fear  of  man. 

(2)  But  the  self-possession  born  of  confidence  in 
God  is  also  compatible  with  the  conceded  influence  of 
a  timid,  shrinking  temperament,  of  already  achieved 
success,  of  thorough  preparation,  and  of  natural  and 
acquired  gifts.  Grace  does  not  dispense  with  reason. 
Piety  is  not  a  substitute  for  common  sense.  Piety 
does  not  materially  change  one's  mental  and  physical 
conditions  and  temperament.  Confidence  in  God  does 
not  dispense  with  the  use  of  means.  The  point  is,  not 
that  natural  timidity  and  past  success  and  thorough 
preparation  and  gifts,  both  natural  and  acquired,  have 
no  influence  on  self-possession,  but  that  these  things 
should  he  mside  to  contribute  to  self-possession.  Hence 
natural  timidity  should  be  early  overcome  by 
conscientious  and  careful  practice ;  hence  we  should 
secure  the  earliest  possible  success ;  hence  we  should 
make  the  most  diligent  and  exhaustive  preparation  ; 
and  hence  the  gifts  in  which  we  are  deficient  should 
be   assiduously    acquired.     But    it  still  remains  true 

*  Rev.  John  McNeil  says  that  *'  he  is  just  tingling  in  every  nerve  be- 
fore going  into  the  pulpit  till  he  gets  under  way  with  his  subject."  He 
does  not  think  a  man  will  make  a  good  preacher  without  this  nervous 
susceptibility  (Personalinterview,  1893). 


Methods  of  Preaching  215 

that  faith  in  God  is  the  chief,  the  basic,  element  in  the 
confidence,  or  self-possession,  of  extemporaneous  dis- 
course. "Believe,"  says  Monod,  "that  He  who  sends 
you  will  not  have  you  speak  in  vain.  Seek  the  salva- 
tion of  those  who  hear  you  as  you  do  your  own.  For- 
get yourselves  so  as  to  behold  nothing  but  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  salvation  of  your  hearers.  You  will 
then  tremble  more  before  God,  but  you  will  tremble 
less  before  men." 

(c)  The  third  essential  to  success  in  extemporaneous 
preaching  is  persistent  practice. 

Resolution  is  much.  But  unyielding,  steady,  per- 
sistent practice  is  much  more.  The  unwontedness  of 
the  effort,  the  presence  of  critical  minds  in  the  audi- 
ence, literary  sensitiveness  with  respect  to  style,  mis- 
takes and  partial  failures,  will  all  plead  against  con- 
tinuance. Eesolutely  let  the  ears  be  shut,  and  the 
heart  steeled,  against  all  such  counsel.  Hold  the  mind 
determinedly  to  this  one  thing,  and  be  inflexibly  fixed 
in  the  purpose,  even  through  much  mortification,  to 
enter  into  this  kingdom  of  power.  With  perseverance 
will  come  ability,  a  growing  familiarity,  a  disregard 
of  the  possible  posture  of  some  hearer,  a  fervid,  direct 
style  of  speech,  and,  ere  long,  the  impossibility  of 
failure.  And  let  it  be  remembered  for  encouragement 
always,  that  the  great  apostle  preached  in  weakness 
and  in  fear  and  in  much  trembling ;  that  Thomas 
Scott  sat  down  from  an  extempore  effort  in  a  kind  of 
despair,  saying,  "  It  does  not  signify,  it  is  impossible 
that  I  should  ever  be  able  to  preach  extempore ; "  yet 
he  came  ultimately  to  preach  in  no  other  way ;  that 
Leigh  Richmond's  first  effort  was  a  total  failure,  and 
he  was  so  ashamed  of  it  that  he  declared  he  would  not 


2l6  Related  Ideals 

repeat  the  attempt ;  yet,  induced  to  repeat  it,  he  came 
at  last  to  have  no  difficulty ;  that  Bobert  Hall,  twice 
at  least  in  his  very  earliest  experiments,  failed  utterly, 
and  in  a  way  that  was  really  painful  to  witness,  and 
still  more  grievous  to  bear  ;  yet  he  became  a  prince 
and  a  power  in  extemporaneous  discourse;  that  Dr. 
Tyng  who  in  his  day  was  one  of  the  best  extemporizers 
in  the  Episcopal  Church,  so  failed  at  the  outset  that 
his  mortified  wife  said  to  him  on  the  way  home,  *'  I 
trust  that's  the  last ; "  that  Dr.  Storrs  was  driven  back 
to  his  manuscript  with  great  mortification  after  a 
serious  failure  in  extemporizing.  Success  by  this  road 
may  be  painful,  and  sometimes  to  the  last  degree 
humiliating,  but  with  persistence  it  is  absolutely  sure. 

VI.  Helps  to  facility  in  extemporaneous  preach- 
ing. 

(a)  A  complete  analysis  of  the  discourse  to  be  de- 
livered— a  full  and  careful  syllabus  or  brief. 

It  will  be  well  to  write  out  the  plan — the  divisions 
and  sub-divisions,  and  to  use  mnemonic  catch-words 
to  indicate  the  order  of  thought  and  illustration  under 
each  head. 

This  brief  should  not  be  too  minute,  too  compre- 
hensive of  details :  for  then  it  may  become  a  burden 
to  the  memory,  and  the  preaching  take  on  the  charac- 
ter of  a  memoriter  effort.  Dr.  Storrs'  first  effort  at 
Brooklyn,  after  his  installation,  was  a  personal  morti- 
fication, and  he  attributed  it  to  too  much  preparation 
in  detail.  He  was  all  the  time  looking  backward,  not 
forward,  in  preaching.  Afterwards  he  wrote  brief 
outlines,  covering  only  one  or  two  sheets  of  common 
note  paper.  The  outline  should  be  like  a  blazed  path 
through  the  woods,  so  that  the  mind  can  pass  naturally 


Methods  of  Preaching  217 

and  easily  from   point  to  point   through   the  entire 
sermon. 

Then,  this  brief  should  be  thoroughly  studied,  mas- 
tered— gone  over  again  and  again — so  that  no  effort 
will  be  required  to  recall  it.  Let  it  be  written  out  in 
a  plain,  bold  hand  and  learned  completely  by  heart. 
A  German  witness  once  said  when  asked  if  he  couldn't 
change  an  opinion  which  he  declared  he  had  formed, 
"  No,"  said  he,  "  I  can't.  It's  all  mixed  up  iiiit  my 
mind.''''  Let  the  preacher  get  his  outline  all  mixed  up 
with  his  mind.  Then,  whether  he  takes  the  written 
outline  in  the  pulpit  or  not,  will  be  of  little  conse- 
quence. The  absolutely  best  way  is  to  have  no  notes 
whatever.^  Face  the  audience  without  a  scrap  of 
paper  between  speaker  and  hearer.  But  if  the  speaker 
is  not  in  perfect  possession  of  the  brief,  let  it  be  taken 
to  the  pulpit,  and  referred  to  as  infrequently  as  pos- 
sible. 

{h)  Let  the  preacher  be  satisfied  at  first  with  say- 
ing simply  and  accurately  just  what  he  has  to  say, 
without  elaboration  or  illustration  or  ambitious  ora- 
torical display.  He  should  not  attempt  fine  things 
till  he  has  learned  to  do  well  the  ordinary,  the  plain, 
the  direct,  the  simple.  The  chaste  diction,  the  drapery 
and  grace  of  elegant  speech,  may  come  afterwards. 
Try  the  wings  with  low  flights,  before  seeking  to» 
career  aloft  and  to  go  soaring  and  gyrating  in  the 
upper  air. 

(c)  Let  trifling  mistakes  in  language  go.  Sweep 
on  with  the  thought.  Do  not  stop  and  return  to 
make  corrections.     It  was  Whitefield's  course  "  never 

'  So  Dr.  Storrs,  Spurgeon,  Talmage,  and  many  others  unite  in  testi- 
fying. 


2i8  Related  Ideals 

to  take  back  anything  unless  it  was  wicked."  Pausing 
to  reconstruct  will  be  likely  to  prove  fatal  to  that 
ready  flow  so  essential  to  success  in  extempore  effort. 
It  will  turn  the  thought  to  the  style  and  away  from 
the  subject,  and  so  lead  to  hesitation,  repetition,  and 
possible  confusion.  And  why  advertise  a  blunder  to 
the  entire  audience  that  may  not  have  been  noticed 
by  a  single  hearer.  Push  right  on  with  the  discourse. 
The  speaker  may  be  sure  the  mistake  is  magnified 
more  to  his  own  consciousness  than  to  the  mind  of  any 
one  listening  to  him. 

{d)  Be  diligent  in  the  study  of  words:  and  so  be- 
come the  master  of  an  ever-enriching  vocabulary. 

(1)  The  frequent  reference  to  a  good  book  of 
synonyms^ — Crabbe's  or  Smith's^ — and  familiarity 
with  a  Thesaurus  of  English  words,  will  very  soon 
increase  greatly  one's  ready  and  discriminating  com- 
mand of  good  English. 

(2)  Careful  speech  in  ordinary  conversation  will  be 
helpful.  One  who  is  accustomed  to  a  careless  and  slov- 
enly use  of  words  all  the  week  can  hardly  expect  a 
rich  vocabulary  from  which  to  draw  supplies  for  ex- 
temporaneous discourse  on  the  Sabbath. 

(3)  Careful  writing  also — writing  with  constant 
regard  to  correct  and  chaste  expression — will  tend  to 
give  a  command  of  richer  and  fitter  words  in  unpre- 
meditated speech. 

{e)  Guard  against  mistaking  mere  fluency  of  speech 
for  good  extemporaneous  ability.     Study,  hard  study, 

'  In  the  English  language,  as  used  by  the  masters,  there  is  really  no 
such  thing  as  a  synonym. 

'A  recent  work  is  "English  Synonyms,  Antonyms  and  Preposi- 
tions," by  J.  C.  Fernald  (Funk  &  Wagualls  Company,  New  York). 


Methods  of  Preaching  219 

makes  the  difference  between  mere  flow  of  words  and 
real  power  in  extempore  speech.  And  it  is  recreancy 
to  the  sacred  calling  of  the  ministry,  and  an  offense 
against  God,  to  indulge  in  idleness  and  neglect  of 
study,  because  endowed  with  natural  fluency.^  Yolu- 
ble  loquacity  may  be  superficial  rant,  mere  wordy 
emptiness  seeking  to  "  supply  the  place  of  thought  " — 
a  ready  flow  of  sound,  twaddle  and  platitude.  It 
costs  the  speaker  nothing,  for  it  is  nothing.  "  It  is  a 
hideous  gift,"  says  Spurgeon,  "  to  say  nothing  at  ex- 
treme length." 

{/)  Begin  the  extemporaneous  method  of  preach- 
ing at  the  very  threshold  of  the  ministry,  and  let  the 
practice  be  uniform,  once  every  Sabbath.  If  already 
in  the  ministry  and  accustomed  to  the  manuscript  ex- 
clusively, break  the  usage  once  every  week.  And  we 
are  such  slaves  to  usage,  not  only  as  to  method,  but 
as  to  time  and  place,  that  complete  deliverance  from 
bondage  can  be  had  only  by  preaching  extempore, 
now  and  then  in  the  morning  and  now  and  then  in  the 
evening. 

Dr.  Alexander  tells  of  a  friend  of  his  once  asking 
a  celebrated  painter  how  young  persons  should  be 
taught  to  paint.  The  reply  was  :  "  Just  as  puppies 
are  taught  to  swim — chuck  them  in."  It  is  so  with 
this  kind  of  preaching.  Dare  to  plunge  in  at  once,  if 
you  would  be  a  good  extemporizer.     The  worst  floun- 

^  When  Thiers  was  president  of  the  French  Republic  he  was  about 
to  issue  some  important  manifesto,  and  submitted  the  draft  to  a 
critical  friend.  "Yes,"  said  the  critic,  "  the  matter  is  clearly  ex- 
pressed, but  I  miss  the  ease  and  fluency  of  your  usual  style. "  "  Ah  !  " 
replied  Thiers,  "I  have  not  worked  those  in  yet.  The  ease  will  cost 
me  much  labour,  and  the  fluency  I  shall  have  to  drag  in  by  the  hair 
of  its  head. ' ' 


220  Related  Ideals 

derings  and  splutterings  will  ere  long  give  way  to  ease 
and  exactness  and  buoyant  movement  in  these  waters. 

{g)  Do  not  as  a  rule  use  prepared  paragraphs  care- 
fully written  out.  The  passage  from  these  to  the  un- 
premeditated portions  of  the  discourse  cannot  be  easily 
and  naturally  made,  save  where  great  excellence  in 
extempore  effort  has  been  already  attained.  Dr.  Storrs 
characterizes  the  use  of  such  prepared  paragraphs  as  the 
poorest  possible  plan  for  himself.  To  use  his  own  strik- 
ing phrase, "  The  whole  sermon  became  a  series  of  jerks." 

Yet  the  rule  has  its  exceptions.  Eobert  Hall  often 
paid  minute  attention  to  the  verbal  structure  of  those 
portions  of  his  sermons  where  the  force  of  an  argu- 
ment or  the  probable  success  of  an  application  de- 
pended mainly  on  the  language.  Dr.  N.  S.  S.  Beman  ^ 
usually  wrote  out  with  care  his  introduction,  and  the 
first  few  sentences  under  each  head,  as  if  he  would 
thus  get  up  steam  and  gather  momentum,  to  push  on 
through  each  division  ;  or  as  if  he  would  thus  feel  his 
way  to  confidence,  boldness,  and  liberty. 

(A)  Get  an  uplifted  soul.  Pray.  Open  the  sluices 
of  the  heart.  Beseech  God  to  flood  them.  The 
preacher  is  to  come  into  most  intimate  and  vital  fel- 
lowship with  living  men.  He  is  to  lay  his  hands  pn 
their  heart-strings.  He  is  to  look  into  their  faces  and 
pour  passion  along  the  mysterious  channels  of  sympa- 
thy into  their  souls.  To  attempt  all  this  with  a  per- 
functory preparation  is  to  make  a  mock  of  the  holy 
work.     The  rather,  with  a  mental  equipment  perfected 

*  A  very  able  extemporizer  and  mighty  man  of  God  in  the  first  half 
of  the  last  century ;  and  who  with  Barnes  and  Breckenbridge  consti- 
tuted the  three  B's  that  made  such  a  buzzing  in  the  Presbyterian  hive 
in  those  stormy  days. 


Methods  of  Preaching  221 

at  every  point,  let  the  man  of  God  fail  not  to  pray, 
earnestly  and  wrestlingly,  that  he  may  speak  amidst 
the  illuminations  and  sanctities  of  the  Eternal  Sjyirit. 

VII.     Objections  to  extemporaneous  preaching. 

(a)  It  is  apt  to  be  rambling  and  desultory.  This  is 
impossible,  unless  the  premeditated  plan  is  rambling. 
If  the  preacher  has  distinctly  conceived  what  he  is  to 
say  and  what  object  he  is  to  aim  at  in  saying  it,  and 
the  successive  steps  by  which  that  object  is  to  be 
reached ;  if  he  has  surveyed  the  whole  ground  and 
marked  out  the  whole  track  of  thought,  and  thus 
blazed  his  way  through — all  of  which  is  essential 
j^rior  to  each  extemporaneous  effort — rambling  and 
disconnection  are  simply  out  of  the  question. 

(J)  Extempore  effort  is  apt  to  be  superficial.  This 
is  also  impossible,  unless  the  premeditated  thought  has 
been  superficial.  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  as  deep 
and  profound  thought  in  preparing  for  the  pulpit  this 
way,  as  any  other  way.  The  thought  should  be  just 
the  same — just  as  vigorous,  protracted,  and  thorough. 
It  is  only  the  language  that  is  the  offspring  of  the  in- 
stant of  delivery. 

(c)  Extempore  preaching  is  apt  to  lead  to  the  undue 
enlargement  of  one  point,  and  hence  to  a  want  of  bal- 
ance and  sj^mmetry  in  the  treatment  of  the  subject. 
This  is  unquestionably  true,  and  can  never  be  w^holly 
guarded  against.  Discipline  and  persistent  practice 
will  do  much,  however,  to  correct  this  evil. 

{d)  But  the  chief  objection  to  extemporaneous 
preaching  is  the  great  and  dangerous  tendency  to 
neglect  thorough  preparation.  (1)  This  tendency 
comes  in  part  from  facility  of  speech.  ISTothing  is  so 
dangerous  as  facility.     It  tends  to  intellectual  care- 


222  Related  Ideals 

lessness  and  indolence,  and  has  often  proved  destruc- 
tive of  habits  of  diligent  study.  It  is  questionable 
whether  natural  facility  is  any  great  boon.  "It  is 
often  mistaken  for  genius,  but  it  generally  ends  in 
mediocrity,"  says  the  sculptor,  W.  W.  Story,  in  a  lec- 
ture on  art.  Gerome,  the  eminent  French  artist,  writ- 
ing of  his  own  experience,  declares:  "I  watched 
myself  closely  in  my  work,  and  one  day  having  made 
a  study  rather  easily  I  scraped  it  entirely  from  the 
canvas,  although  it  was  well  done — so  much  did  I  fear 
to  slip  on  the  smooth  plane  of  facility."  ^ 

That  smooth  plane  of  facility  !  Many  a  young  min- 
ister has  slipped  there  to  his  sore  and  grievous  hurt, 
and  sometimes  to  the  permanent  impairment  of  his 
pulpit  power — so  that  he  has  come  to  be  known  as  a 
man  "  whose  linguistic  fluency  is  unembarrassed  by 
intellectual  activity  ;  "  and  his  patient,  wise  parish- 
ioners find  it  in  their  hearts  to  pray  that  the  Lord 
would  baptize  their  young  pastor  with  a  rich  expe- 
rience of  this  blessed  embarrassment. 

(2)  But  the  tendency  to  neglect  thorough  prepara- 
tion for  the  pulpit  has  often  a  more  honourable 
source.  It  frequently  comes  from  the  pressure  of 
other  and  important  ministerial  work.  This  work 
sometimes  presses  its  claims  with  imperial  urgency. 
And  certain  as  the  fluent  extemporizer  is  of  his  ability 
to  furnish  a  discourse  to  his  hearers  that  will  be  rea- 
sonably acceptable,  trusting  to  the  occasion  to  inspire 
him,  remembering  that  often  some  of  his  best  thoughts 
have  come  to  him  in  the  very  hour  of  delivery,  he 
yields  to  the  pressure  of  other  work,  and  neglects  the 
protracted  and  thorough  study  of  his  theme.     This 

^  Century  Magazine^  February,  1889, 


Methods  of  Preaching  223 

inevitably  ends,  if  continued,  in  repetitions  and  com- 
monplaces, and  the  utter  dearth  and  death  of  all  fresh- 
ness and  originality. 

One  safeguard  against  this  evil  is  an  inflexible  de- 
termination, by  the  grace  of  God  and  as  a  matter  of 
conscience,  to  keep  certain  hours  or  days  sacred  to 
this  one  thing — studious  and  thoughtful  preparation 
for  the  pulpit. 

Another  safeguard  is  the  fixed  habit  of  writing,  as 
well  as  of  extemporizing  sermons,  perfecting  each 
manuscript  with  the  utmost  care.  It  is  a  good  deal 
of  an  assumption  for  a  young  man  to  lay  aside  the 
habit  of  writing  sermons.  Surely  the  purpose  is  born 
of  ignorance  or  conceit.  For  to  an  extemporaneous 
preacher,  if  he  is  to  have  anything  more  than  mere 
temporary  success,  the  four  following  things  are  in- 
dispensable. 

(1)  The  most  thorough  mental  discipline,  leading 
to  exact  habits  of  thinking. 

(2)  Wide  resources  of  knowledge. 

(3)  Facility  in  using  these  resources. 

(4)  Diligence  in  adding  to  them. 

If  he  hav^e  not  these,  his  sermons  will  inevitably 
come  to  show  that  he  spins  out  "  the  thread  of  his 
verbosity  "  long  after  he  is  done  with  "  the  staple  of 
his  argument,"  and  like  the  argument  of  Gratiano, 
they  will  have  "  two  grains  of  wheat  hid  in  two 
bushels  of  chaff." 

Preaching  from  a  Manuscript 

I.  Let  it  be  said,  first  of  all,  and  with  emphasis,  that 
the  use  of  a  manuscript  in  the  pulpit  does  not  make 
the  user  any  the  less  a  preacher. 


224  Related  Ideals 

It  is  often  objected  that  reading  is  not p7'eaching. 
"  I  object  to  being  read  at  when  I  go  to  hear  the 
Gospel,"  is  Parker's  way  of  putting  it.  "  Be  a  preacher, 
and  not  a  reader  of  the  Gospel,"  he  further  says. 
Bishop  Simpson,  in  his  "  Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching" 
(p.  178)  quotes  from  Potter's  "  Sacred  Eloquence," 
to  this  effect :  "  In  no  sense  of  the  word  can  reading 
be  called  preaching.  .  .  .  The  sermon  which  is 
merely  read  from  a  paper  never  has  been,  and  never 
will  be,  anything  more  than  a  piece  of  reading." 

And  Sydney  Smith  waxes  merry  with  the  subject 
after  this  fashion  :  "  Pulpit  discourses  have  insensibly 
dwindled  from  speaking  to  reading — a  practice  of 
itself  suflBcient  to  stifle  every  germ  of  eloquence. 
.  .  .  What  can  be  more  ludicrous  than  an  orator 
delivering  stale  indignation  and  fervour  of  a  week 
old,  turning  over  whole  pages  of  violent  passions — 
reading  the  tropes  and  apostrophes  into  which  he  is 
hurried  by  the  ardour  of  his  mind,  and  so  affected  at  a 
preconcerted  line  and  page  that  he  is  unable  to  pro- 
ceed any  further." 

But  all  this  pungent  and  vehement  objection  to 
preaching  from  a  manuscript,  is  more  witty  than  wise, 
and  fuller  of  sound  than  sense.  What  is  "  preach- 
ing"? It  is  the  public  exposition  and  application 
of  God's  truth.  The  use  of  the  manuscript  is  one 
method  of  doing  this,  just  as  extemporizing  is  another 
method,  and  memorizing  another.  It  might  as  well 
be  urged  that  the  extern porizer  extemporizes  the 
Gospel,  or  the  memorizer  memorizes  the  Gospel,  as 
that  the  user  of  a  manuscript  reads  the  Gospel.  Each 
preaches,  and  one  equally  with  the  other,  but  each 
after  a  distinct  method.     Therefore,  to  Parker's  say- 


Methods  of  Preaching  225 

ing,  "  I  object  to  being  read  at,  when  I  go  to  hear 
the  Gospel,'^  the  sufficient  reply  is,  *'  I  object  to  being 
extemporized  at  or  being  memorized  at,  when  I  go  to 
hear  the  Gospel ; "  and  there  is  no  sense  in  either. 

As  to  Sydney  Smith's  satirical  pleasantry,  in  his 
tirade  against  preaching  from  a  manuscript,  one  or 
the  other  of  two  things  is  the  inevitable  conclusion 
from  his  premise  :  either  no  preparation  whatever  is 
to  be  made  for  the  Sabbath,  or  some  kind  of  thought- 
fid  preparation  is  to  be  made  that  does  not  involve 
writing.  In  the  former  case  it  is  true  that  the 
preacher  will  avoid  all  possibility  of  "delivering 
stale  indignation  and  fervour  of  a  week  old."  But  he 
will  be  likely  to  go  floundering  in  a  sea  of  extempo- 
rized juvenilities  and  pious  platitudes. 

In  the  latter  case,  if  the  preacher  is  a  man  and  his 
thinking  worth  anything,  there,  in  the  quiet  of  his 
study,  where  he  thinks  and  prays,  preparing  for  the 
Sabbath,  his  soul  will  be  stirred  with  "  indignation 
and  fervour."  But  that  "indignation  and  fervour" 
will  be  just  as  "  old  "  and  "  stale  "  when  he  comes  to 
his  pulpit  with  it  on  Sunday,  as  if  he  had  it  in  black 
and  white  in  a  manuscript.  And  again,  if  feeling  is 
born  of  thought  in  the  study,  why  should  not  that 
same  thought  produce  even  intenser  feeling  in  the 
kindling  presence  of  a  sympathetic  audience ! 

II.     The  reasons  in  favor  of  manuscript  preaching. 

{a)  Writing  chastens  and  purifies  the  style.  Of 
course,  there  is  a  kind  of  hurried,  unstudied,  extem- 
poraneous writing  that  does  nothing  of  the  sort. 
It  is  neither  preceded  nor  accompanied  by  thought. 
And  the  preacher  goes  dashing  over  the  pages  of  his 
sermon  paper,   with   no  effort  at  exact  expression. 


226  Related  Ideals 

This  is  even  worse  than  unstudied,  extemporaneous 
sjpeaking.  For  the  latter  has  some  helpful  adjunct 
in  an  occasion  and  an  audience.  And  a  manuscript 
is  not  the  least  assurance  against  intellectual  vacuity. 
Even  after  the  most  thoughtful  and  thorough  prepa- 
ration for  the  sermon,  if  it  be  "  written  with  fury," 
it  should  be  "  revised  with  phlegm."  If  the  writing 
has  been  with  constant  regard  to  exact  verbal  ex- 
pression, of  course  this  critical  revision  will  not  be 
necessary.  But,  in  either  case,  expression  is  carefully 
studied  as  a  means  of  greater  distinctness  of  thought, 
of  lopping  off  redundant  words,  of  giving  directness 
and  plainness  to  involved  sentences,  of  strengthening 
a  weak  expression,  of  making  every  sentence  and 
every  word  tell  towards  the  furtherance  of  the  one 
object  of  the  discourse.  And  this  must  inevitably 
chasten  and  purify  and  invigourate  the  style. 

(5)  Writing  tends  to  give  clearness  and  vividness 
to  thought.  The  very  effort  to  put  a  conception  in 
words  often  discloses  the  vagueness  of  the  conception. 
"We  are  not  sure  of  the  exact  possession  of  a  thought 
until  we  have  sought  to  give  it  verbal  form.  Writing 
favours  precision  of  thought  as  well  as  purity  of 
speech.  Channing  doubts  "  whether  a  man  ever 
brings  his  faculties  to  bear  with  their  whole  force 
on  a  subject  until  he  writes  upon  it."  ^  "When  Robert 
Hall  constructed  the  language  of  any  part  of  his 
sermons  the  sentences  were  formed  with  minute 
attention  to  their  verbal  structure.  Buffon  says : 
"  To  write  well  is  to  think  well,  to  feel  well,  to  render 
well."  Cicero  is  credited  with  saying,  "  The  pen  is 
the  best  and  most  excellent  informer  and  director  of 

iVol.  1,  p.  263, 


Methods  of  Preaching  227 

the  tongue."  And  the  brilliant  Dr.  Eichard  S.  Storrs, 
so  long  the  eminent  and  scholarly  leader  of  the  Brook- 
lyn pulpit,  voiced  his  conviction  after  this  manner : 
"  The  pen  gives  march  to  the  mind."  ^  "  Better  give 
up  half  your  library  than  let  the  pen  fall  into  disuse."^ 
"  Nothing  but  the  pen  can  break  up  books  for  us,  and 
transmute  them  into  knowledge  and  thought."^ 

Surely  the  style  of  the  pulpit  cannot  afford  to  dis- 
pense with  this  aid  to  chasteness,  dignity,  and  force. 
Blemishes  in  diction  need  the  correction  of  the  pen. 

(c)  Greater  compactness  with  greater  variety  of 
material  may  be  secured  by  writing.  The  discourse 
is  surer  to  be  rid  of  superfluities,  and  to  move  in 
straighter  lines.  It  will  be  likely  to  contain  more 
varied  and  multiplied  shades  of  thought  and  illustra- 
tion than  would  appear  in  extempore  effort. 

{d)  The  manuscript  gives  a  certain  relief  to  the 
mind  in  the  actual  process  of  delivery.  There  is  no 
effort  of  memory  such  as  is  often,  and  sometimes 
painfully,  apparent  in  memoriter  speaking.  There  is 
no  labour  of  invention  and  style,  together  with  the 
apprehensions  by  such  labour,  as  in  extempore  speak- 
ing. The  prepared  discourse — prepared  both  in 
thought  and  language — enables  the  preacher  to  enlist 
all  his  powers  in  the  actual  work  of  public  utterance. 
If  now  he  has  become  thoroughly  familiar  with  his 
manuscript,  so  that  his  eye  is  not  held  unbrokenly  to 
it  in  the  process  of  delivery,  this  method  of  preaching 
ought  to  be  greatly  effective.  It  may  approach  to 
something  of  the  freedom  of  the  extempore  effort. 
Into  his  delivery  the  preacher  may  put  his  whole  soul, 

J  "  Preaching  Without  Notes, "  p.  49.  2  jj^-^^^  p^  59, 

^Ihid.,  p.  52. 


228  Related  Ideals 

possessed  with  his  theme  and  concerned  to  possess  his 
hearer  with  it.  Chalmers  and  Robertson  and  Alex- 
ander Maclaren,  Howard  Crosby  and  R.  D.  Hitch- 
cock and  William  Taylor  and  Cuyler  and  a  great  and 
goodly  host  besides,  so  preached,  and  their  preaching 
was  with  living  fire.  Such  preaching  is  not "  reading," 
and  should  not  be  so-called.  It  is  widely  different 
from,  and  immeasurably  above,  that  which  holds  the 
eye  fettered  to  the  manuscript  and  keeps  the  mind 
occupied  in  taking  in  the  sense. 

{e)  Another  reason  favouring  manuscript  preach- 
ing is  the  likelihood  of  securing  well-balanced,  and 
hence  more  thorough,  treatment. 

In  writing,  the  undue  elaboration  of  any  one  point 
may  be  noted  and  checked.  But  in  extempore  effort, 
the  excitement  of  delivery,  when  the  rush  is  on,  the 
stir  and  fervour  of  aroused  interest  in  the  point  under 
discussion,  may  lead  to  enlargement  and  amplification 
that  will  leave  little  or  no  room  for  the  discussion  of 
other  and  equally  important  points.  Fit  proportion, 
and  therefore  greater  thoroughness  of  treatment,  are 
likely  to  be  secured  by  writing. 

{/)  The  written  sermon  also  favours  more  undi- 
vided attention  to  the  devotional  parts  of  the  service. 

The  secret  of  many  a  barren  prayer  in  the  pulpit 
may  be  just  here.  The  mind  has  been  busy  with  the 
coming  sermon,  which  is  to  be  extemporized.  Con- 
cern about  that,  the  consciousness  of  inadequate 
preparation,  and  apprehension  of  failure,  may  easily 
prove  the  death  of  a  true  spirit  of  devotion. 

III.  The  objections  to  preaching  from  the  manu- 
script. 

{a)    The  written  sermon  is  liable  to  be  too  studied 


Methods  of  Preaching  229 

in  expression,  too  literary  and  scholastic,  so  as  to  lack 
naturalness  and  that  vital  feature  of  all  oratorical 
effort — direct  address.  There  is  a  tendency  in  writing 
to  write  for  the  eye,  to  pay  too  great  heed  to  the  rare 
niceties  and  delicate  colourings  of  expression,  and  too 
little  heed  to  the  direct  end  in  view,  the  supreme  ob- 
ject to  be  accomplished.  It  is  difficult  to  write  as  an 
orator  would  speak,  and  few  perfectly  succeed  in  com- 
posing in  solitude  as  if  the  audience  were  before  them. 
But  eloquence  in  the  pulpit  demands  an  oratorical 
style.  It  tends  to  move  straight  on  men's  hearts.  It 
is  not  by  involved  and  highly-finished  sentences  that 
it  secures  its  ends.  Quintilian  says  it  is  " regardless 
of  the  nicety  of  paring  the  nails  and  adjusting  the  hair." 

ih)  With  the  written  sermon  there  is  also  the 
liability  to  mechanical  delivery. 

Just  in  proportion  as  the  mind  is  occupied  in  pick- 
ing up  the  thought  from  the  written  page,  is  restraint 
put  upon  posture  and  gesture,  and  the  mind  is  taken 
away  from  the  object  in  view,  from  the  desire  to  ac- 
complish it,  and  from  sympathy  with  the  audience — 
three  of  the  chief  sources  of  power  in  delivery. 

To  avoid  this,  the  sermon  should  be  written  in  a 
bold,  legible  hand,  the  beginning  of  sentences  should 
be  distinctly  marked,  the  body  of  the  writing  should 
be  broken  up  into  paragraphs,  the  lower  right  hand 
corner  of  each  leaf  should  be  lightly  folded  over  so 
that  the  leaf  may  be  easily  turned  in  delivery,  and  the 
manuscript  should  be  given  two  or  three  careful  read- 
ings before  it  is  taken  to  the  pulpit.  Otherwise  it  is 
likely  to  put  restraint  upon  look,  gesture  and  posture, 
and  to  lessen  the  flexibility  and  quench  the  fire  of 
oratorical  action. 


230  Related  Ideals 

{c)  The  lessened  probability  of  riveting  attention, 
of  profiting  by  the  reaction  of  the  sympathy  of 
the  audience,  and  of  using  the  unanticipated  sugges- 
tions of  the  Holy  Spirit,  may  also  be  used  as  objec- 
tions to  this  method  of  preaching,  though  they  have 
been  named  as  advantages  in  extempore  effort.  Eye 
must  meet  eye^  thought  must  not  he  hound  hy  fixed 
forms,  and  the  leadings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  must  have 
instant  and  constant  heed,  in  order  to  the  best 
oratorical  success.  Nothing  but  a  burning  heart, 
aflame  with  devotion  and  swept  as  with  a  passion  for 
souls,  will  meet  the  difficulties  presented  by  a  manu- 
script. But  a  burning  heart  will  make  the  hearer 
forget  the  preacher  has  a  manuscript  before  he  has 
gone  over  a  half  dozen  pages.  "How  would  you 
heat  a  cold  church  ?  "  was  one  of  the  questions  sent 
up  to  Moody,  in  one  of  his  big  tabernacle  gather- 
ings in  New  York  City.  Back  came  the  answer, 
swift  as  lightning,  "Build  a  big  fire  in  the  pulpit." 
Away  will  go  all  thought  or  suggestion  of  a  manu- 
script and  all  objection  to  it,  in  that  same  kind  of 
conflagration.^ 

The  Memoriter  Method  of  Preaching 
I.     This  was  the  favourite  method  with  the  ancients, 
and  in  it  they  attained  success.     The  orators  of  suc- 
ceeding ages  have  never  surpassed  them. 

'  I  have  asked  scores  of  people,  fresh  from  the  public  service,  and 
commenting  enthusiastically  upon  the  sermon,  if  the  preacher  used  a 
manuscript,  though  I  knew  he  never  preached  without  one,  and  they 
could  not  tell  whether  the  preacher  had  preached  from  notes  or  not, 
so  wholly  had  they  been  absorbed  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  his  mes- 
sage. Surely,  as  weighed  against  the  message  and  the  man,  method 
kicks  the  beam. 


Methods  of  Preaching  231 

But  the  secret  of  their  success  was  their  ahnost  in- 
credible and  inconceivable  cultivation  of  memory. 
Crassus,  we  are  told  by  Cicero,  would  sometimes 
dictate  as  many  as  six  different  parts  of  the  same  argu- 
ment to  six  clerks,  at  the  same  time,  and  then  go  im- 
mediately into  Court  and  deliver  the  whole  without 
once  looking  at  his  papers.  But  such  marvellous  feats 
of  memory  are  rare,  and  seldom  possible  even  with 
laborious  culture  and  the  most  severe  discipline.^ 

II.     The  advantages  of  the  memoriter  method. 

{a)  Looking  and  speaking  directly  to  the  audience, 
as  against  the  manuscript  method. 

1  William  H.  Seward  was  probably  one  of  the  best  representatives  of 
this  class  of  effective  public  speakers  among  our  American  statesmen. 
In  the  Lincoln  campaign  of  1859-60,  I  distinctly  remember  his 
stenographer  testifying  that  the  three  or  four  speeches  Seward  made 
for  the  central  West  in  that  great  campaign  were  dictated  by  Seward 
before  he  left  Auburn,  and  then  given,  without  a  scrap  of  paper  before 
him,  to  his  eager  and  enthusiastic  audiences.  In  one  of  these 
speeches  occurred  that  memorable  phrase,  "  the  irrepressible  conflict, " 
which  was  quoted  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other  and  became 
historic. 

But  this  remarkable  feat  of  memory  is  a  far  remove  from  the 
memoriter  exploits  reported  of  Macaulay.  That  he  knew  "Paradise 
Lost  "  by  heart  was  common  report.  One  evening  at  Edinburgh  there 
was  a  bet  of  a  copy  of  "Paradise Lost  "  between  Macaulay  and  Jeffrey 
as  to  a  certain  line  of  that  poem.  The  next  morning  Macaulay  came 
with  a  handsomely  bound  volume.  "There,"  he  said,  "is  your 
book  ;  I  have  lost ;  but  I  have  read  it  through  once  more,  and  I  will 
now  make  you  another  bet  that  I  can  repeat  the  whole."  Jeffrey  took 
him  at  his  word,  and  put  him  on  in  passage  after  passage  without  once 
finding  him  at  fault.  This  Lord  Jeffrey  told  to  Mr.  Hayward.  It  caps 
the  story  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  saying  to  Macaulay  that  he  believed  he 
had  never  forgotten  anything  he  wanted  to  remember ;  to  which 
Macaulay  retorted  that  he  had  never  forgotten  anything.  No  process 
of  strengthening  the  memory  could  give  such  prodigious  power,  with- 
out great  natural  reteutiveuess  and  readiness. 


232  Related  Ideals 

(5)  Language  already  carefully  prepared  as  against 
the  extempore  method.     Hence  : 

(c)  Giving  oneself  wholly  to  the  work  of  delivery ; 
adapting  force,  pitch,  time,  articulation,  emphasis,  and 
gesture  to  the  varying  thought  and  sentiment. 

But  to  these  unquestionable  advantages  is  attached 
an  indispensable  jproviso.  The  proviso  is  that  the 
memory  must  recall  without  conscious  effort.  If  the 
effort  to  recall  is  a  labour,  so  engrossing  attention  as 
to  keep  the  mind  from  giving  full  swing  to  all  the 
other  powers  of  effective  speech,  then  the  supposed 
advantages  disappear,  and  the  disadvantages  come  to 
the  front  with  an  emphasis  and  a  force  quite  unmis- 
takable. 

III.     The  disadvantages  of  the  memoriter  method. 

(a)  The  labour  and  time  required  to  write  and 
commit. 

{h)  The  tendency  to  mechanical  delivery,  as  in- 
dicated in  the  fatal,  tell-tale,  introverted  look. 

(c)  The  fear  of  possible  failure  from  unforeseen  cir- 
cumstances. 

{d)  The  bondage  to  an  already  prescribed  course, 
sentence  by  sentence :  for  to  switch  off  the  appointed 
track  would  endanger  subsequent  connection.  So  that 
the  claimed  freedom  of  this  method  is,  after  all,  only 
an  apparent  freedom. 

The  possession  of  an  extraordinary  verbal  inemory 
would  obviate  the  most  of  these  difficulties,  and 
is  the  indispensable  condition  to  efficiency  by  this 
method. 

The  words  must  seem  to  come  of  themselves.  Any 
toil  of  remembering,  or  dread  of  forgetting,  will  vitiate 
delivery  and  make  spoil  of  the  deliverer.     When  the 


Methods  of  Preaching  233 

speaker's  eye  is  turned  inward  on  the  tablet  of  his 
brain,  as  if  in  search  of  thoughts  and  words  that  ought 
to  be  crowding  to  the  tip  of  his  tongue,  how  can  that 
eye  flash  with  enthusiasm,  or  be  charged  with  electric 
fire  ?  When  that  telltale  betraying,  and  never-to-be- 
mistaken  introverted  look,  shows  that  he  does  not  see 
his  congregation,  he  can  neither  be  in  close  sj^mpathetic 
touch  with  his  hearers,  nor  responsive  to  their  varied 
moods  and  needs.^ 

Here,  then,  are  the  three  generic  ideal  methods  of 
preaching.  Any  other  methods  are  mere  modifica- 
tions or  combinations  of  these. 

For  the  ideal  memoriter  method  of  preaching,  it  is 
absolutely  indispensable  that  the  preacher  have  a 
memory  ready  and  retentive,  swift  to  act,  and  that 
never  slips. 

For  the  ideal  method  of  preaching  from  a  manu- 
script, it  is  absolutely  indispensable  that  there  should 
be  both  complete  mastery  of  the  subject-matter,  and 

^  I  have  never  heard  a  memoriter  speaker  who  did  not  sooner  or  later 
show  that  he  was  memorizing,  and  thus  betray  his  enslavement  to  a 
manuscript.  Dr.  John  Hall,  of  blessed  memory,  so  long  the  beloved  and 
honoured  pastor  of  one  of  New  York's  great  churches,  was  one  of  the 
freest  memoriter  preachers,  and  apparently  in  familiar  and  sympathetic 
relation  with  his  audience.  His  gestures  were  telling  and  abundant. 
He  often  leaned  far  forward  from  the  pulpit  as  if  to  come  in  closer 
touch  with  his  hearers,  and  to  talk  to  them  in  the  most  companionable 
■way.  And  his  freedom  from  the  manuscript  was  often  occasion  of  re- 
mark. But  I  ouce  happened  to  be  seated  immediately  in  front  of  him, 
not  more  than  ten  feet  away,  as  I  was  to  officiate  in  the  installation 
service.  The  platform  was  low,  and  I  could  see  distinctly  every  feature 
of  his  fine  face.  But  there  was  that  same  telltale  introverted  look. 
He  did  not  see  his  audience  once,  from  start  to  finish.  His  eye  was  on 
the  manuscript,  or  the  copy  of  it  that  was  stamped  upon  his  memory; 
and  as  to  who  was  in  his  audience,  what  they  were  doing,  how  affected, 
he  seemingly  was  as  blind  as  if  he  were  sightless. 


234  Related  Ideals 

complete  familiarity  with  its  verbal  form,  so  that 
bondage  to  the  manuscript  shall  be  lost  sight  of  in  the 
freedom  and  glory  of  utterance. 

For  the  ideal  method  of  preaching  extemporaneously 
it  is  absolutely  indispensable  that  there  be  just  as 
complete  command  of  the  subject-matter  of  the  sermon 
as  in  the  other  methods.  But  there  must  just  as 
absolutely  be  no  slavery  to  any  verbal  form.  The 
verbal  form  must  be  got  in  the  presence  and  under 
the  inspiration  of  the  audience.  For  this  is  the  all-in- 
all  of  extempore  speech.  It  is  this  pull  from  without 
which  the  audience  gives,  joined  to  the  push  from 
within  which  is  given  by  meditation  and  prayer  in  the 
quiet  of  the  study,  that  makes  ideal  extempore  preach- 
ing, as  has  been  already  said,  not  only  the  best  of  its 
kind,  but  better  than  the  best  of  any  other  kind.  That 
is,  tlie  ideal  of  the  ideals  ! 

Choice  of  Method 

Here  is  a  little  consensus  of  opinion.  It  might  well 
be  labelled  "  a  bundle  of  contradictions." 

Dr.  Kichard  S.  Storrs  :  "If  you  find,  after  sufficient 
conscientious  trial,  that  you  can  do  more  useful  service 
with  the  pen,  than  without  it,  use  the  pen.  ...  I 
have  never  believed  it  the  best  plan  for  all  ministers  to 
preach  without  notes  "  ("  Preaching  Without  Notes," 
p.  67).     A  wise  and  weighty  word. 

What  he  means  by  "  conscientious  trial "  let  his  own 
words  tell  us  :  "  Make  the  failure  a  reason  for  more 
intense  succeeding  effort ;  a  wing,  not  a  weight ;  a  spur 
to  stimulate  to  fresh  endeavour,  and  not  a  stiletto  to 
stab  out  the  life "  {Ibid.,  p.  QQ).  Another  wise  and 
weighty  word. 


Methods  of  Preaching  235 

But  his  last  counsel  is,  changing  a  word  of  Paul's, 
"  One  man  esteemeth  one  way  above  another  :  another 
man  esteemeth  every  way  alike.  Let  every  man  be 
fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind  "  {Ihid.,  p.  'o^)^  which 
seems  to  leave  this  vital  matter  of  method  in  preach- 
ing absolutely  to  one's  personal  preference. 

Dr.  William  Taylor  :  "  Memoriter  preaching  is  the 
method  that  has  the  greatest  advantages,  with  the 
fewest  disadvantages." 

And  yet,  "  Preaching  from  a  manuscript  is  the 
method  in  which  if  he  choose  to  train  himself  in  it, 
the  man  of  average  ability  will  make,  on  the  whole, 
the  best  of  his  talents." 

And  yet,  he  says,  "Abstractly  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  free  speech  is  the  normal  method  of  the 
pulpit." 

*'  Make  choice  of  the  method  which  suits  you  best !  " 
("The  Ministry  of  the  Word,"  pages  150-152.) 

Dr.  Parker :  "  On  the  whole,  .  .  .  free  speech 
in  the  pulpit  is  infinitely  preferable  to  the  most  fin- 
ished written  composition  "  ("  Ad  Clerum,"  p.  44). 
But  he  wrote^  and  then  laid  aside  his  manuscript,  and 
this  he  called  "  free  speech."  In  other  words,  he  made 
a  verbal  groove  for  his  thought,  and  then  got  into  it 
or  kept  out  of  it  according  to  the  mood  of  the  moment. 
The  probabilities  are  that  he  commonl}^  got  into  the 
ditch  and  stayed  there. 

At  the  risk  of  being  regarded  as  over-bold  and  even 
presumptuous  in  the  presence  of  this  galaxy  of  cele- 
brated preachers  and  authorities  in  the  field  of 
Homiletics,  the  author  would  submit  the  following 
as  proving  suggestive  and  helpful  in  determining 
Tnethod. 


236  Related  Ideals 

Helps  in  Determining  Method 

1.  No  method  is  to  be  exclusively  used  at  the  out- 
set of  one's  ministry. 

2.  On  the  whole,  in  view  of  all  the  considerations, 
pro  and  con,  the  memoriter  method  seems  the  least  cle- 
sirahle  of  the  three,  save  where  there  is  a  natural  and 
very  unusual  gift  of  memory.  And  then  it  is  not  to 
be  used  to  the  exclusion  of  the  extempore,  but  only  of 
the  manuscrijpt  method.  When  by  writing  a  sermon, 
and  reading  it  over  once  or  twice,  a  preacher  can  so 
command  the  precise  verbal  expression  that  he  need 
only  open  his  mouth  to  reproduce  it — reproduction 
being  almost  as  spontaneous  as  his  breathing — he  may 
employ  the  memoriter  method  to  advantage.  But 
where  recollection  is  a  labour,  either  antecedent  to 
delivery  or  in  the  process  of  delivery,  the  method 
is  unadvisable.  It  consumes  time,  instead  of  saving 
time.  But,  whatever  the  power  and  the  facility 
of  remembering,  this  method  should  never  be  used 
exclusively. 

3.  As  to  the  other  two  methods  of  preaching — 
preaching  from  the  manuscript  and  preaching  extem- 
pore— each  tends  to  correct  the  faults  of  the  other. 
The  two  methods  are  a  balance  and  corrective,  and 
should  invariably  go  together,  while  habits  of  thought 
and  style  are  forming.  No  preacher  can  at  the  outset 
reject  either  without  impairing  his  efficiency.  He  will 
write  better  by  extemporizing,  and  he  will  extemporize 
better  by  writing.  Writing  tends  to  correct  the 
looseness  and  inexactness  of  verbal  expression  in  ex- 
tempore effort,  tends  to  counteract  undue  amplification 
of  one  point,  so  common  in  extempore  effort,  and  tends 
to  thoroughness  of  preparation. 


Methods  of  Preaching  237 

On  the  other  hand,  the  extempore  method  tends  to 
correct  the  scholastic  and  too  studied  and  often  in- 
volved style  of  the  written  sermon,  tends  to  immediate 
contact  with  the  audience,  and  hence  to  that  freedom 
of  delivery  which  has  been  the  inspiration  of  waiting 
assemblies  since  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

4.  Objections  to  combining  these  two  methods  by 
writing  out  the  sermon  in  full,  and  then  preaching 
without  the  manuscript : 

{a)  The  time  saved  for  study  by  the  purely  extem- 
pore method  is  thus  lost  altogether. 

{b)  The  effort  to  write  out  carefully  two  sermons 
a  week  will  either  prove  exhaustive  to  the  preacher, 
or  lead  to  careless  superficial  writing. 

{c)  The  actual  delivery,  with  most  minds,  would  be 
likely  to  be  a  struggle  between  the  memoriter  and  the 
extempore.  The  mind  would  naturally  run  in  the 
groove  of  verbal  expression  already  made  in  writing 
the  sermon,  and  the  reproduction  would  be  embar- 
rassed by  the  tendency. 

{d)  Hence,  the  want  of  that  jyerfect  freedom  of  ut- 
terance which  is  the  glory  of  the  best  extempore  speech. 

5.  Tlh.Q  proportion  in  which  each  should  he  used  will 
be  determined  somewhat  by  circumstances. 

{a)  Regard  must  be  had  to  occasions.  There  are 
occasions  when  the  most  careful  preparation,  extend- 
ing to  the  entire  verbal  expression  and  demanding  ex- 
actness in  every  line  and  word,  is  essential.  There  are 
occasions,  on  the  other  hand,  when  a  written  discourse 
would  be  strangely  out  of  place.  The  prayer-meeting 
address,  a  kind  of  sermonette,  the  familiar  weekly  talk 
of  the  pastor  with  his  people  should  be  invariably 
without  notes.     At  funerals,  except  on  great  public 


238  Related  Ideals 

occasions,  the  speaking  should  be  extemporaneous.  In 
localities  unused  to  the  Gospel,  in  unlettered  neighbour- 
hoods, in  gatherings  at  schoolhouses,  in  the  midst  of 
an  assembly  caring  little  for  the  Gospel  and  knowing 
less,  the  use  of  a  manuscript  would  be  a  weakness  and 
a  hindrance,  making  it  almost  impossible  to  hold  at- 
tention. 

(b)  Regard  must  be  had  to  subject  also — some  sub- 
jects requiring  that  exact  didactic  form  of  expression 
to  which  writing  is  favourable.  Some  subjects  also 
compelling  an  entrance  on  unfamiliar  lines  of  thought 
and  the  use  of  unfamiliar  modes  of  expression. 

6.  In  view  of  all  the  points  considered,  the  princi- 
ples involved,  and  the  historic  facts  in  evidence,  is  not 
the  following  a  fair  and  adequate  summary  of  the  coun- 
sel concerning  methods  of  preaching  ?  For  the  first  five 
years  in  one's  ministry,  let  one  sermon  each  week  be 
written  with  great  care.  With  equal  care  let  the  ^lan 
or  outline  of  another  sermon  be  prepared  each  week ; 
and  so  prepared  that  the  preacher  shall  know  what  he 
is  going  to  talk  about,  and  the  track  of  his  thought 
from  start  to  finish,  without  knowing  the  exact  verbal 
form  his  thought  is  to  take,  until  he  is  in  his  pulpit  in 
the  actual  process  of  delivery. 

Then  let  the  preacher  steadfastly  and  determinedly 
see  to  two  things  :  first,  that  no  natural  fluency  or  sur- 
jpassing  facility  of  utterance  shall  Tceejp  him  from  the 
constant  habit  of  careful  writing  j  second,  that  no 
natural  timidity^  no  stumbling  and  halting  at  first 
ventures^  shall  Iceep  hiin  from  the  constant  habit  of 
preaching  extemjpore. 

If  five  years  of  persistent  practice  do  not  give  ease 
and  readiness  and   measurable  success  in  extempo- 


Methods  of  Preaching  239 

raneous  effort,  then  either  the  foundations  that  are  the 
basis  of  all  effective  discourse  are  worthless,  or  the 
preacher  will  have  disclosed  some  radical  defect  in 
temperament  or  mental  structure  unfitting  him  for 
this  ideal  method  of  telling  men  of  Jesus  Christ, 
through  the  public  proclamation  of  His  Holy  Word. 


XVI 
KINDS  OF  DISCUSSION 


SYLLABUS 

Discussion — its  place  in  sermonic  structure.     Three  generic  kinds : 
explanatory,  observational,  prepositional. 
I.     Explanatory  discussion  embraces  narration,  description,  exempli- 
fication.     Its  chief  business  is  exposition — but  exposition  al- 
ways in  order  to  persuasion.     It  is  exhibitive,  not  demonstra- 
tive.    But  it  is  not  mere  commentary.     It  is  dominated  by  a 
purpose  to  move  the  will  Godward.      Some  suggestions  that 
should  have  heed  in  explanatory  discussion. 
II.     Observational  discussion.     Its  nature.     Not  demonstrative.    But 
the  observations  should   be   clearly  suggested   by  the  text, 
strictly  germane  to  the  subject,  aimed  at  some  definite  object, 
and  pervaded  by  unity. 

Advantages:  it  tends  to  variety,  freshness,  vivacity  and  origi- 
nality. 

Dangers :  that  the  observations  will  be  rambling,  disconnected, 
and  more  or  less  wanting  in  direct  Scripturalness. 

Examples  of  observational  discussion. 
III.     Propositional  discussion.     Its  nature  and  aim  ;  demonstrative ; 
step  by  step  ;  appeals  to  the  reason. 

The  ideal  explanatory  discussion  not  only  makes  the  meaning 
perfectly  clear,  but  aims  to  reach  the  will. 

The  ideal  observational  discussion  not  only  has  Scripture  for  the 
basis  of  each  observation,  but  so  arranges  them  as  to  make  the 
sermon  a  climax. 

The  ideal  propositional  discussion  is  that  which  proves  its  case 
and  leaves  "  no  hinge  or  loop  to  hang  a  doubt  on." 

Of  these  three  ideal  kinds  of  discussion  the  greatest  is  explana- 
tory ;  for 

1.  Its  limitless  variety  furnishes  adaptation  to  the  most  varied 

need. 

2.  It  makes  a  more  intelligent  and  stable  body  of  believers. 

3.  It  was  the  way  of  the  Master. 


XVI 

KINDS  OF  DISCUSSION 

DISCUSSION  is  that  part  of  discourse  which 
unfolds  the  theme.  The  plan  of  the  sermon 
is  the  skeleton.  The  discussion  is  this 
skeleton,  clothed  with  flesh  and  blood  and  put  to  a 
living  use,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  some  object. 
Here  the  instruction  is  furnished,  or  the  proof  dis- 
played, that  is  to  inform  the  understanding  of  the 
hearer,  and  lodge  conviction,  and  lay  a  foundation  for 
excitation  and  persuasion. 

There  are  three  general  kinds  of  discussion — ex- 
planatory, observational  and  propositional,  and  each 
has  its  own  distinct  ideal. 

I.     Explanatory  discussion. 

This  looks  towards  informing  or  instructing.  It 
aims  to  set  forth  in  a  clear  light  that  which  is  obscure  ; 
to  give  directness  and  vividness  to  a  subject  not  clearly 
apprehended  or  understood. 

{a)  What  it  embraces :  Explanatory  discussion 
embraces  narration,  or  the  setting  forth  of  events  in 
their  chronological  or  causal  order,  and  as  centrally 
connected  with  some  specific  theme,  as,  for  example, 
the  circumstances  attending  the  denial  of  Christ  by 
Peter. 

(5)  Explanatory  discussion  embraces  description.  A 
character,  an  attribute,  a  duty,  a  doctrine,  may  be 
more  distinctly  apprehended  as  it  is  vividly  set  forth 
by  fit  and  forceful  speech.     Getting  a  subject  fairly 

243 


-  244  Related  Ideals 

and  fully  before  an  audience,  by  perfectly  accurate  but 
vivid  word  colouring,  may  make  just  the  difference 
between  its  acceptance  and  rejection. 

(c)  Explanatory  discussion  embraces  exemjplifica- 
tion — or  the  setting  forth  a  theme  by  examjjles  /  as 
national  or  individual,  from  history  or  from  fiction  ; 
e.  g.,  Christian  heroism, — illustrated  by  the  martyrs 
at  the  stake  ;  "  Virtue  its  own  reward  " — set  forth  by 
particular  instances  of  comfort  and  peace  in  the  prac- 
tice of  self-denial ;  "  The  pain  of  the  present  swallowed 
up  in  the  joy  of  the  future  " — illustrated  by  Christ 
Himself,"  who  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him,  en- 
dured the  cross,  despising  the  shame."  ^ 

{d)  But  explanatory  discussion  has  its  chief  crown 
and  glory  in  what  is  technically  known  as  exjpository 
preaching.  This  preaching  is  based  upon  a  somewhat 
extended  section  of  Scripture.  But  while  the  chief 
business  of  expository  preaching  is  explanation^  it  is 
always  explanation  in  order  to persitasion.  It  is  not 
mere  commentary.  Commentary  is  simply  for  infor- 
mation, may  stop  here  or  there  without  regard  to 
completeness  of  thought,  explains  with  equal  care  and 
fidelity  every  part  of  Scripture  text,  runs  on   from 

^Fine  material  is  furnished  iu  Heb,  11,  for  a  series  of  sermons  illus- 
trating explanatory  discussion  by  exemplification.  Taking  the  first 
verse  of  the  chapter  as  the  basis  of  the  series,  what  a  roll-call  of  heroes 
follows  in  exemplification  of  t\\& poicer  of  faith  ! — "By  faith,  Enoch" 
— "  By  faith,  Noah  "— "  By  faith,  Abraham  "— "  By  faith,  Moses  "— 
and  others  of  the  goodly  and  godly  group  who,  through  faith,  "  subdued 
kingdoms,"  "wrought righteousness,"  "obtained  promises  "  "  stopped 
the  mouths  x,i  lions, "  "  quenched  the  power  of  fire, "  "  waxed  mighty  in 
war,"  and  "  turned  to  flight "  whole  armies.  How  easy  to  imaginean 
entire  church  transformed  by  such  a  series  of  sermons,  and  led  to  say 
in  the  joy  of  invincible  persuasion,  '  *  We  can  do  anything  through  faith. ' ' 


Kinds  of  Discussion  245 

verse  to  verse  and  chapter  to  cliapter,  and  is  utterly 
indifferent  to  oratorical  arrangement.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  expository  sermon  has  what  Vinet  calls  "  a 
mother  idea"  running  through  it  from  beginning  to 
end,  as  in  a  parable.  And  hence,  while  there  is  pre- 
dominance of  analysis  in  the  expository  sermon,  it  is 
not  analysis  that  cuts  the  subject  into  infinitesimal 
bits,  and  leaves  the  sermon  a  mere  bundle  of  chips. 

(e)  Explanatory  discussion  must  therefore  forever 
respect  the  oratorical  form  and  spirit  of  the  sermon,  so 
that  all  the  particulars  brought  out  in  the  processes  of 
exegesis  and  analysis  shall  be  made  to  flow  in  one 
strong  current,  and  in  increasing  volume  towards  a  def- 
inite end.  Exegesis  must  not  be  so  detailed  as  to 
halt  movement.  It  should  show  results  rather  than 
processes.  For  a  sermon  is  first  and  last  and  always 
an  address,  a  speech  ;  and  its  animating  genius  is 
climax ;  and  minute  critical  exegetical  details  are 
absolutely  hostile  to  oratorical  form  and  flow. 

(f)  Explanatory  discussion  is  exhihitive,  and  not 
demonstrative.  It  never  reasons.  It  unfolds.  It  does 
not  come  with  the  cudgels  of  logic.  It  tells  a  story.  As 
was  seen  in  our  discussion  of  the  ideal  method  of 
answering  questions,  Christ  frequently  met  both 
honest  inquiry  and  challenging  unbelief  by  a  story. 
Again  and  again  in  the  gospel  record  it  is  said  of  Him  : 
"  He  spake  a  parable  unto  them."  And  in  every  case 
His  purpose  is  made  clear.  It  was  not  to  entertain  His 
hearers,  nor  to  arrest  or  fix  attention ;  but  to  drive 
home  some  vital  truth  embosomed  in  the  heart  of  His 
story.  "  Behold  a  sower  went  forth  to  sow  " — and  the 
different  sorts  tell  us  in  a  matchless  way  one  of  the 
secrets  of  rich  and  poor  harvesting  in  the  kingdom  of 


246  Related  Ideals 

God.  And  how  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son  has 
brought  many  a  wandering  boy  back  to  his  father's 
house.  And  how  the  story  of  the  Syrophenician 
woman  and  her  daughter  has  made  many  a  mother 
feel  she  too  may  have  power  with  God  and  prevail. 

1.  Explanatory  discussion  must  therefore  be  domi- 
nated from  start  to  finish  by  a  purpose.  And  that  pur- 
pose must  determine  the  relative  empliasis  to  he putupon 
the  successive  points  in  the  disctission.  For  example: 
Paul  in  his  second  letter  to  the  church  at  Coi'inth  is 
making,  as  we  would  say  in  the  usage  of  to-day,  an 
appeal  for  a  church  collection.  In  the  midst  of  his 
appeal  he  urges  this  marvellous  plea  for  Christian 
liberality  :  "  For  ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  though  He  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes 
He  became  poor,  that  ye  through  His  poverty  might 
be  rich"  (2  Cor.  8  :  9).  Here  all  the  infinite  riches  of 
grace  and  glory  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  world  was, 
and  all  the  poverty  and  shame  and  sorrow  the  life  He 
lived  here  and  the  death  He  suffered,  are  brought  to  bear 
upon  a  mere  matter  of  self-denying  Christian  liberality. 
And  it  is  simply  tremendous  in  its  appeal.  It  em- 
braces all  the  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory 
that  Christ  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was, 
all  the  poverty  and  desolation  and  doom  of  death  in- 
volved in  the  incarnation  and  crucifixion,  and  all  the 
eternal  riches  and  grace  and  glory  won  for  us  by  the 
amazing  sacrifice.  Togo  into  explanatory  and  unfold- 
ing details  of  all  this  would  require  a  volume  of  di- 
vinity. Even  a  dozen  or  more  sermons  on  the  riches 
from  which  Christ  came  and  the  poverty  to  which 
He  came,  that  He  might  infinitely  enrich  our  poverty, 
would  scarcely  touch  the  hem  of  the  garments  of  these 


Kinds  of  Discussion  247 

mighty  themes.  Explanatory  discussion  could  not  and 
should  not  undertake  detailed  and  minute  explanation 
of  these  vast  reaches  of  thought,  including,  as  they  do, 
many  of  the  great  doctrines  of  God,  such  as  the  eternal 
Trinity  of  the  Godhead,  the  eternal  glory  which  Christ 
had  with  the  Father,  the  divine  incarnation  in  the 
flesh,  the  humiliation,  poverty  and  shame  of  Christ's 
incarnation,  the  crucifixion,  and  the  great  doctrine  of 
the  atonement  for  sin  it  represents,  the  resurrection, 
the  ascension,  and  the  divine,  perpetual  and  effectual 
intercession.  In  expository  preaching  on  this  Cor- 
inthian chapter,  these  vast  themes  should  be  used  as 
motives  to  Christian  liberality^  and  nothing  more. 
They  should  be  marshalled  in  brief,  and  pressed  to  the 
accomplishment  of  this  distinct  and  specific  object. 
But  in  each  clause  of  this  wonderful  section  of  Paul's 
first  letter  to  the  Corinthian  church,  lies  a  great  truth 
of  God.  And  if  one  wished  to  enrich  his  flock  with 
the  full  unfolding  of  these  respective  truths,  so  that 
their  great  glory  would  be  a  perpetual  inspiration  to 
Christian  loyalty  and  service  and  sacrifice  in  any  field 
of  labour  and  for  any  call  of  God,  he  would,  after  a 
while,  turn  back  to  this  signal  passage,  take  up  the 
several  clauses  one  by  one,  and  m^ahe  a  sermon  on  each 
clause^  and  each  of  these  sermons  either  observational 
or  demonstrative.  In  other  words,  having  used  them 
collectively  in  explanatory  discussion,  he  could  after- 
wards take  them  up  singly,  and  find  rich  and  abundant 
material  in  each  for  observational  or  propositional  dis- 
cussion. 

2.  Suggestive  helps  that  may  well  have  heed  in  ex- 
planatory discussion,  where  the  preaching  is  purely 
expository  : 


248  Related  Ideals 

{a)  The  exposition  should  begin  with  some  brief 
and  detached  portion  of  Scripture  that  has  already 
had  the  preacher's  study  and  heart,  and  which  he  has 
found  particularly  fruitful  and  suggestive.  The  ex- 
position will  then  be  no  task  to  him,  and  will  have  the 
warmth  and  glow  of  personal  interest. 

(h)  If  the  exposition  is  to  be  in  course,  before  be- 
ginning the  series,  it  would  be  well,  (1)  To  make  a 
general  survey  of  the  field  to  be  traversed.  Read  the 
entire  epistle,  or  the  biography,  or  the  historic  record 
again  and  again,  and  in  the  translation,  if  the  Greek 
or  Hebrew  is  not  familiar.  This  will  give  the  flow, 
the  current,  the  continuous  movement  so  vital  to  a 
comprehensive  view — the  general  facts  and  their  re- 
lation to  each  other;  or  the  successive  points  in  the 
argument,  and  their  relative  force  and  application. 
(2)  Lay  out  a  definite  plan  of  procedure.  Determine 
at  least  these  three  things  :  the  limit  of  each  section  to 
be  expounded  ;  the  leading  idea  to  be  developed  and 
enforced  in  connection  with  each  section ;  and  the 
practical  uses  to  which  each  section  may  be  put.  With 
this  work  mapped  out  beforehand,  one  thing  will  cer- 
tainly be  secured — the  general  unity  of  the  hooh.  And 
one  thing  will  certainly  be  avoided — all  prohahility  of 
repetition. 

{c)  The  limit  of  the  passage  for  exposition  should 
be  predetermined  by  the  leading  thought.  We  can- 
not cut  the  text  of  an  expository  sermon  at  random 
from  the  body  of  Scripture.  It  must  be  a  passage 
measurably  complete  in  itself,  having  a  natural  begin- 
ning and  ending,  so  that  the  sermon  may  be  a  rounded 
whole,  having  subject  and  object  and  oratorical  struc- 
ture, and  pervaded  throughout  by  essential  unit3^ 


Kinds  of  Discussion  249 

(d)  There  should  be  predominance  of  analysis,  but 
analysis  always  in  order  to  syntliesis.  Analysis  is  not 
decomposition.  It  should  respect  the  soul  of  the  pas- 
sage. Here  is  room  and  demand  for  the  closest  crit- 
ical scholarly  study. 

II.     Ohservational  Discussion. 

This  is  discussing  a  text  or  a  theme  by  a  series  of 
observations,  that  shall  bring  out  its  salient  leading 
points.  The  observations  are  not  in  the  order  of  a 
demonstration  :  not  successive  steps  in  a  logical  process. 
But  the  observations  should  be  clearly  suggested  by 
the  text — strictly  germane. 

This  kind  of  discussion  is  applicable  chiefly  to  ob- 
jects where  the  different  parts  of  the  text  furnish  the 
basis  for  the  observations ;  and  to  Scriptural  inci- 
dents whose  respective  details  furnish  a  like  basis. 
But  it  is  possible,  and  may  be  made  exceedingly 
profitable,  with  almost  any  portion  of  Scripture. 
F.  W.  Robertson  is  the  conspicuous  modern  example 
of  this  method  of  discussion.  He  went  through  the 
two  epistles  to  the  Corinthians  in  the  use  of  this 
method.  And  that  this  work  is  richly  suggestive, 
with  possibilities  of  rare  variety,  and  charged  to  the 
full  with  applied  theology,  will  hardly  be  gainsaid. 
His  sermons  on  individual  texts  have  the  same  stamp : 
illustrating  both  the  dangers  and  advantages  of  this 
method  of  discussion. 

The  advantages  are  that  this  kind  of  discussion 
tends  to  variety,  freshness,  vivacity  and  originality  in 
the  preacher.  The  dangers  are  that  the  observations 
will  be  rambling,  disconnected,  and  more  or  less  want- 
ing in  direct  Scripturalness,  through  temptation,  to  a 
fertile  and  suggestive  mind,  to  display  its  own  in- 


250  Related  Ideals 

genuity.  With  these  dangers  scrupulously  guarded 
against,  there  is  no  reason  why  this  kind  of  discussion 
should  not  be  frequently  and  profitably  employed  in 
sacred  discourse. 


Examples  of  Observational  Discussion 

This  example  is  given  by  Shedd/  as  from  Bed- 
dome,  on  the  text :  "  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou 
Me  ?  "  (Acts  9  :  4). 

Observation  1.  It  is  the  general  character  of  un- 
converted men  to  be  of  a  persecuting  spirit. 

Observation  2.     Christ  has  His  eye  on  persecutors. 

Observation  3.  The  injury  done  to  Christ's  people, 
Christ  considers  as  done  to  Himself. 

Observation  4.  The  calls  of  Christ  are  particular — 
*'Saul,  Saul." 

The  first  observation  might  well  be  challenged. 
But  the  rest  have  a  clear  evidential  value  as  to  this 
method  of  discussion,  and  the  Scriptures  are  full  of 
such  fine  possibilities. 

One  of  these  fine  possibilities  is  furnished  by  Gala- 
tians  6  :  10  :  "So  then  as  we  have  opportunity  let  us 
work  that  which  is  good  towards  all  men,  and  espe- 
cially towards  them  that  are  of  the  household  of  faith." 

Theme :     Opportunity. 

Observation  1.     Opportunity  is  the  measure  of  duty. 

Observation  2.  Opportunity  has  swift  wings.  If 
we  would  see  it  before  it  gets  by,  we  must  have  our 
eyes  open. 

Observation  3.  Opportunity  does  not  always  come 
flying  by ;  but  sometimes  it  is  so  in  our  power  to  ar- 

^Shedd's  "  Homiletics, "  p.  150. 


Kinds  of  Discussion  251 

range  and  order  events  that  ere  long  opportunity  will 
be  seen  winging  its  way  to  our  door. 

Observation  4.  Opportunity  has  no  limit  of  sect  or 
caste  or  colour.  "  Let  us  work  that  which  is  good 
towards  all  men." 

Observation  5.  Opportunity  has  special  reference 
to  "  the  household  of  faith." 

III.     Propositional  Discussion. 

This  kind  of  discussion  involves  logical  proof.  It 
aims  step  by  step  to  establish  an  affirmation  or  propo- 
sition as  true,  and  either  to  lodge  conviction  in  the 
mind  of  the  hearer,  or  to  confirm  by  fresh  argument 
the  conviction  already  there.  It  appeals  to  the  judg- 
ment and  the  reason  of  men.  Out  of  the  nature  of  the 
theme  grows  the  argument,  a  logical  succession,  a 
process  of  demonstration.  It  is  the  highest  philosophic 
form  of  discourse.  Trained  minds  delight  in  it,  love 
to  see  it  built  up.  It  should  be  the  aim  of  every 
preacher  to  discuss  now  and  then  some  truth  after 
this  fashion.  But  trained  minds  are  few  in  most  con- 
gregations. They  are  few  in  almost  every  promiscu- 
ous assembly.  Their  need  should  be  proportionally 
met,  as  we  have  seen  in  our  discussion  of  the  law  of 
adaptation.  But  even  such  minds  are  often  longing 
for  simplicity,  directness,  and  spiritual  illumination 
rather  than  logical  process. 

Here,  then,  are  the  three  leading,  generic  kinds  of 
pulpit  discussion — Explanatory,  Observational,  Propo- 
sitional.    They  virtually  cover  the  entire  field. 

The  ideal  explanatory  discussion  is  that  which  so 
exhibits  God's  truth  by  narration,  description,  ex- 
emplification or  exposition,  that  it  not  only  makes  the 
meaning  absolutely  clear,  but   also  shows  a  distinct 


252  Related  Ideals 

and  dominating  purpose  to  reach  the  will  and  move  it 
Godward. 

The  ideal  observational  discussion  is  that  which  has 
a  clear  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  for  each  of  its  observa- 
tions, and  that  so  focusses  these  observations  as  to 
make  the  sermon  a  climax,  gathering  power  as  it  pro- 
ceeds, and  determinedly  bent  on  accomplishing  a 
specific  object. 

The  idesil  jpropositional  discussion  is  that  which  has 
its  theme  in  a  logical  rather  than  a  rhetorical  form. 
The  rhetorical  form  is  simply  exhibitive,  suggesting  no 
particular  kind  of  discussion.  But  the  logical  form  is 
assertive,  suggesting  and  demanding  proof.  "  The 
sovereignty  of  <jod,"  for  example,  is  a  theme  opening 
the  door  to  almost  any  kind  of  discussion  of  God's 
sovereignty.  "  God  is  a  sovereign  "  is  a  theme  in- 
viting and  almost  compelling  its  support  by  proof. 
Let  the  preacher  announce  for  his  theme,  "  The  sov- 
ereignty of  God,"  and  we  can  imagine  a  hearer  at 
once  saying  to  himself,  "  Let  us  see  what  he  has  to 
say  about  it."  But  if  he  announce  for  his  theme, 
"  God  is  sovereign,"  that  same  hearer  would  almost 
inevitably  be  saying  silently  to  the  preacher,  "  You 
say,  '  God  is  sovereign,'  furnish  the  evidence,^'*  Well, 
the  ideal  propositional  sermon  furnishes  the  evidence. 
It  is  bent  absolutely  and  exclusively  on  proving  its 
case.  Step  by  step  it  passes  down  the  logical  suc- 
cession, with  inexorable  precision,  leaving  "  no  hinge 
or  loop  to  hang  a  doubt  on,"  until  the  end  is  reached 
and  the  victory  won. 

We  have  thus  before  us  the  three  ideal  kinds  of  dis- 
cussion. Is  there  one  of  these  that  is  not  only  the 
best  of  its  kind,  but  better  than  the  best  of  either  of 


Kinds  of  Discussion  253 

the  other  kinds  ?  In  other  words,  is  there  one  that  is 
the  ideal  of  the  ideals  ? 

We  think  this  honour  clearly  belongs  to  ideal  ex- 
^lanatory  discussion,  and  for  the  following  reasons : 

1.  It  covers  a  broad  field,  allows  an  almost  limitless 
variety,  and  therefore  is  adapted  to  a  vastly  varied 
need.  It  includes  doctrines,  where  their  lucid  expla- 
nation is  their  vindication,  dissipating  prejudice  and 
winning  assent.  Many  a  doctrine  of  God  is  rejected 
simply  because  it  is  not  understood. 

Explanatory  discussion  includes  duties.  A  duty 
must  be  understood  before  any  appeal  for  the  discharge 
of  the  duty  can  be  successfully  pressed  home.  Many 
an  exhortation  has  come  from  the  pulpit  for  the  doing 
of  a  certain  duty,  when  the  sufficient  and  satisfactory 
answer  from  the  pew  has  been,  "  That  is  not  my  busi- 
ness." The  hearer  must  be  made  to  see  that  it  is  his 
business.  Take  the  duty  of  Christian  forgiveness. 
An  explanatory  discussion  would  bring  out  points  like 
these:  that  the  spirit  of  forgiveness  is  to  be  always 
cherished,  but  that  actual  forgiveness  is  dependent  on 
the  repentance  of  the  wrong-doer:  for  forgiv^eness 
means  restoration  to  the  old  place  of  trust  and  love, 
and  penitence  is  the  only  open  door  to  that  good  es- 
tate, and  Christlike  forgiveness  is  impossible  when 
there  is  no  repentance. 

In  fact,  there  is  no  part  of  God's  Word  that  does  not 
come  within  the  scope  of  explanatory  discussion.  And 
this  is  one  persuasive  reason  why  this  kind  of  discus- 
sion should  take  conspicuous  place  in  the  public  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel — it  meets  more  varied  need,  fits  into 
more  social  and  civic  conditions  than  either  of  the  other 
kinds  of  discussion. 


254  Related  Ideals 

2.  A  second  reason  for  giving  priority  and  su- 
premacy to  explanatory  discussion  is,  that  it  makes  a 
more  intelligent  and  stable  body  of  believers.  All  Scot- 
land was  once,  and  to  a  degree  is  still,  proof  of  this 
claim.  With  the  Bible  in  their  hands,  the  people  fol- 
lowed the  reading  and  expounding  of  the  "Word  of 
God,  and  so  their  minds  and  hearts  were  saturated 
with  Bible  truth.  It  got  into  their  prayers  and  made 
them  rich  in  devotional  expression  and  fervid  in  devo- 
tional ardour.  It  got  wrought  into  their  spirit  and 
made  them  mighty  in  faith,  and  fearless  of  man  or 
devil.  So  that  a  Scotchman  was  known  as  a  man  who 
could  stand  before  kings,  and  face  tyranny  with  his 
argument,  and  "nail  it  wi'  Scripture." 

3.  But  a  third  reason,  claiming  ideal  explanatory 
discussion  to  be  not  only  the  best  of  its  kind,  but  bet- 
ter than  the  best  of  any  other  kind,  is  this :  it  was  the 
way  of  the  Master.  He  never  preached  a  propositional 
discourse.  He  never  once  followed  a  line  of  reasoning 
down  through  the  successive  steps  of  a  logical  process. 
His  premise  was  often  an  incident,  a  parable,  a  story — 
and  from  it  came  a  conclusion.  That''s  all.  The 
premise  was  always  unchallengeable ;  the  conclusion 
was  always  irresistible.  He  sometimes  put  a  question 
that  compelled  a  certain  answer,  and  then  made  that 
answer  the  ground  for  a  challenge  that  cavilling  Phar- 
isees could  not  meet,  and  dared  not  deny  ;  and  that 
timid,  doubting,  troubled,  but  believing  and  loving  dis- 
ciples accepted,  and  grew  bold  because  of :  "  Two  men 
went  up  into  the  temple  to  pray,  the  one  a  Pharisee, 
and  the  other  a  publican  "  ;  "  Hear  what  the  unjust 
judge  saith  "  ;  "  What  man  is  there  of  you,  who,  if  his 
son  ask  for  a  loaf,  will  give  him  a  stone  " ;  "  If  ye  then, 


Kinds  of  Discussion  255 

being  evil,  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how 
much  more  shall  your  Father  which  is.  in  heaven  giv^e 
good  things  to  them  that  ask  Him  ?  "  Thus  by  para- 
ble and  story,  by  incident  and  illustration,  Christ 
taught  us  about  all  we  know  concerning  prayer — its 
power,  its  tenderness,  its  persistence,  its  reasonableness. 
"  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,"  are  the  words  that 
all  around  the  world  let  lowly  and  loving  hearts  into 
the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High. 

Thus  always  and  everywhere  He  exhihiied truth,  He 
illustrated  truth.  He  made  truth  plain.  O  man  of  God, 
put  in  trust  of  this  Gospel,  in  imitation  of  your  Mas- 
ter, make  truth  plain  ;  dare  to  make  truth  plain.  Give 
explanatory  discussion  the  supreme  place  in  your 
preaching  that  Christ  gave  it  in  His,  though  this 
should  be  at  the  expense  of  swelling  periods,  and  long 
trains  of  reasoning,  and  the  intricate  processes  of  sci- 
entific research,  and  the  details  of  higher  or  lower 
criticism.     Make  God^s  truth  plain. 

But  do  we  not  want  defenders  of  the  faith  ?  Cer- 
tainly, we  want  defenders  of  the  faith.  Let  it  be  said 
with  all  positiveness :  As  error  is  championed  by  the 
ripest  scholarship,  truth  must  be  alike  championed,  or 
leave  the  field.  Therefore,  let  the  Christian  scholars 
that  are  set  to  this  business  confound  the  gainsayers. 
But  people  do  not  come  to  the  house  of  God  to  be  fed  on 
the  reputation  of  sceptics.  In  preaching,  follow  your 
Master.  Exhibit  truth,  as  He  did.  And  live  the  truth 
as  He  did.  E'ever  let  the  man  behind  the  sermon  give 
the  lie  to  the  sermon.  Exhibit  truth.  Illustrate  truth. 
Explain  truth.  And  make  it  so  plain  that  a  little  child 
may  take  it  in  and  walk  in  the  path  of  it. 

But  was  not  Paul  a  mighty   reasoner,   distinctly 


256  Related  Ideals 

marked  among  the  apostles  as  "  reasoning  of  righteous- 
ness and  self-control  and  the  judgment  to  come  "  ? 
Yes,  his  eighth  of  Romans  is  an  ascending  way  up  the 
mount  of  Christian  confidence,  and  for  every  step  of 
the  way  of  ascent  he  has  a  logical  warrant.  But  when 
we  would  see  Paul  at  his  best,  we  go  to  one  of  the 
Corinthian  chapters,  where  there  is  not  a  suggestion 
or  trace  of  logical  process.  But  instead,  in  matchless 
setting,  the  queen  jewel  in  the  diadem  of  Christian 
graces  is  held  up  to  view.  Thousands  go  to  that  apos- 
tolic exhibit  of  love  and  linger  there,  where  one  fol- 
lows the  steps  of  Paul's  logic.  Just  so  with  the  Old 
Testament  singer  of  Israel  and  seer  of  Christ.  Multi- 
tudes of  believing  hearts  have  gone  with  him  up  the 
heights  of  Christian  triumph,  but  far  more  have  found 
their  comfort  and  their  joy  in  the  green  pastures  and 
by  the  still  waters  of  the  Twenty-Third  Psalm,  where 
Christ  is  simply  exhibited  as  the  Good  Shepherd.  A 
good  old  saint  in  one  of  my  parishes  was  wont  to  say  : 
''  When  things  go  wrong,  and  I  am  worn  and  weary, 
and  the  burden  is  heavy,  I  like  to  go  and  lie  down 
awhile  on  the  Twenty -Third  Psalm."  And  how^  many 
a  lost  wanderer  from  God  has  heard  or  read  of  the 
tender,  yearning,  seeking  and  searching  Father  in  the 
parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  coming  back  to  his 
Father's  house,  has  been  met,  while  yet  a  great  way 
off,  as  the  Father  saw  him  and  was  moved  with  com- 
passion and  ran  and  fell  on  his  neck  and  kissed  him. 
All  the  reasoning  in  the  world  has  not  brought  so 
many  wanderers  back  to  God  as  this  gospel  story  of 
the  wandering  and  returning  prodigal. 


XVII 

SERMON  PLA:N^S  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  DIFFERENT 
KINDS  OF  DISCUSSION 


XVII 

SERMON  PLANS  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  DIFFERENT 
KINDS  OF  DISCUSSION 

The  first  three  plans  are  from  the  same  text,  and  they  show  ivhat  possibili- 
ties of  variety  there  are  in  the  different  kinds  of  discussion. 

Explanatory  Discussion 

Text : — But  grow  in  the  grace  ...  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  {2  Peter  3 :  18). 

Introduction  : — The  grace  here  spoken  of  is  the  grace 
of  godliness ;  of  Christlikeness  ;  of  which  Christ  is 
the  Author.  It  is  the  heart  of  the  Gospel ;  the  very 
essence  of  all  true  religion.  It  is  vital  that  we 
understand  this  matter. 

Ohject : — To  stimulate' growing  in  grace  by  helping 
Christians  to  see  what  it  is,  and  why  and  how  they 
should  grow. 

Theme: — Growing  in  grace. 
I.     The  thing  itself — or  what  this  growth  is. 
{a)  Increasing  nearness  to  Jesus. 

(b)  Increasing  delight  in  His  service. 

(c)  Increasing  love  for  His  followers. 
{d)  Increasing  hatred  of  sin. 

11.     The  why  of  it — or  the  reason  for  growth. 
{a)  It  enriches  the  soul. 
(h)  It  glorifies  Christ. 
(c)  It  is  commanded  of  God, 
259 


26o  Related  Ideals 

III.     The  how  of  it — or  the  method  of  growth. 
(a)  By  meditation — looking  unto  Jesus. 
{b)  By  self-denial — crucifying  the  flesh. 
(c)  By  outward  activity — labouring  for  others. 

Conclusio7i : — Christians,  if  you  will  daily  ponder  these 
reasons,  and  prayerfully  use  this  method,  you  will 
exhibit,  to  the  joy  of  your  soul,  to  the  good  of  men, 
and  to  the  glory  of  God,  what  growth  in  grace 
means  ;  more  nearness  to  Jesus,  more  delight  in  His 
service,  more  love  for  His  fellows,  more  hatred  of 
sin. 

Observational  Discussion 

Text : — But  grow  in  the  grace  ...  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  (^  Peter  3 :  18). 

Introduction : — The  Christian  life  is  no  dead  level — 
neither  a  macadamized  road  nor  a  stagnant  canal. 
It  is  a  progress  and  an  ascent ;  onward  and  upward, 
until  the  full-grown  man  is  reached — the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ. 

Object : — To  stimulate  and  shame  Christians  to  growth 
in  grace  by  their  splendid  possibilities  and  poor  at- 
tainments. 

Theme : — Growth  in  grace. 

Observation   1. — Grace  is  a  matter  of  degrees — 

Peter,  Paul,  Moody. 
Observation  2. — Growth  in  grace  is  in  our  own 

power.     We  can  have  less  of  it  or  more  of  it ; 

a  good  deal  of  it  or  none  at  all. 
Observation  3. — There  are  some  vital  conditions 

of  growth. 


Illustrative  Sermon  Plans  26 1 

(a)  Association. 
{h)   Appropriation. 
(c)   Assimilation. 

Practical  Lessoiis : — 

1.  We  are  as  good  Christians  as  we  wish  to  be. 

2.  We  should  take  shame  to  ourselves  for  nob 

being  better  Christians. 

3.  Our  not  being  better  Christians  is  because  we 

have  not  met  the  conditions. 

PROPOSITIONAL   DISCUSSION 

Text: — But  grow  in  the  grace  .  .  .  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  (^  Peter  3  :  18). 

Object : — To  persuade  Christians  to  growth  in  grace 
by  conviction  of  the  imperative  duty  of  it. 

Introduction : — Growth  seems  the  order  of  nature. 
It  is  married  to  life  in  the  vegetable,  animal,  and 
mental  world.  The  realm  of  grace  is  no  exception. 
No  growth  is  reversal  of  order.  Injunction  of  the 
text  is  imperative. 

Theme  : — Growth  in  grace  is  a  Christian  duty. 
I.     Because  commanded  of  God. 
II.     Because  growth  is  a  law  of  all  healthful  life. 
III.     Because  increase  of  grace  is  increase  of  power  ; 
speech  is  mighty  as  it  has  character  behind  it. 
lY.     Because  the  more  we  grow  Christlike,  the  more 
we  honour  Christ. 

Conclusion  : — Christians,  you  who  wear  Christ's  name, 
this  is  not  an  optional  thing,  a  mere  privilege  to  be 
enjoyed  or  not,  at  pleasure  ;  well  enough,  and  even 
desirable,  but  not  vital.     It  is  clearly  as  much  a  duty 


262  Related  Ideals 

as  faith  is,  or  prayer.  God's  word  makes  it  a  test  of 
disciplesliip,  and  binds  it  on  our  hearts  as  an  im- 
perative law. 

Explanatory  Discussion 

Text : — For  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  save 
that  which  was  lost  {Luke  19  :  10). 

Object : — To  show  the  sinner  that  he  need  not  be  lost ; 
and  yet  to  show  him  from  the  character  of  the 
Seeker  and  the  cost  of  the  seeking,  what  a  terrible 
thing  it  is  to  be  lost. 

Introduction  : — The  scene — its  vivid  contrasts.  Ho- 
sannas  of  the  crowd  followed  by  sneers.  The  de- 
spised publican  seeking  Jesus,  and  Jesus  seeking 
the  publican.  Jesus  the  guest  of  a  sinner,  and  the 
sinner  an  heir  of  salvation. 

Theme  : — The  reach  of  the  divine  compassion. 
Seen     I.     In  the  person  of  the  Seeker. 

The  Son  of  man,  because  the  Son  of  God. 

God  in  the  flesh. 

Seen    II.     In  the  way  of  seeking. 
{a)  Its  humiliation. 
Q))  Its  isolation. 
{c)  Its  desolation. 

Seen  III.     In   the  person  sought — "that  which  was 
losty 
(a)  Not  simply  lost  in  error,  but  in  sin. 
(i)  Not  simply  lost  to  the  good,  but  to  God. 
(<?)  Not  simply  lost  for  this  life,  but  forever. 


Illustrative  Sermon  Plans  263 

Conchcsion : — 1,     The  lowliest  and  wickedest  may  take 

hope  and  heart. 

2.  If  the  seeker  be  God,  and  the  way 

of  seeking  at  such  a  cost,  what  a 
world  of  meaning  is  put  into  the 
word  ''Lost''  !  "N 

3.  If  the  seeker  be  God,  and  the  way 

of  the  seeking  at  such  a  cost,  what 
7)iust  it  he  to  he  saved. 

Propositional  Discussion 

Text : — For  it  is  better,  if  the  will  of  God  should  so 
will,  that  ye  suffer  for  well-doing  than  for  evil-do- 
ing {1  Peter  3  :  17). 

Introduction : — Can  this  be  possible  ?  We  are  not 
wont  to  think  of  it  so.  If  we  do  wrong  and  suffer, 
we  count  it  our  desert.  If  we  do  well  and  suffer, 
it  seems  a  cruel  stab.  But  here  is  the  word  of  God 
telling  us  it  is  better  to  suffer  doing  good  than  do- 
ing evil. 

Theme: — Suffering  in  well-doing  is  preferable  to  suf- 
fering in  evil-doing. 

Ohject : — To  help  Christians  to  a  Christlike  patience 
when   they  are  misinterpreted  and  misunderstood. 
I.     Suffering  in  well-doing  is  in  the  path  of  duty. 
Suffering  in  evil-doing  is  in  the  path  of  diso- 
bedience. 

II.     Suffering   in   well-doing  is  with  an  approving 
conscience. 
Suffering  in  evil-doing  is  with  an  accusing  con- 
science. 


264  Related  Ideals 

III.     Suffering  in  well-doing  is  the  discipline  of  love 
— the  judgment  of  mercy. 
Suffering  in  evil-doing  is  punishment  of  sin — 
the  judgment  of  wrath. 

ly.     Suffering   in   well-doing   is   an  honour — for  so 
Christ  suffered  (Ch.  4  :  14). 
Suffering  in  evil-doing  is  a  shame. 
Should  we  therefore  seek  suffering  ?     No. 
Are  we  doing  well  when  not  suffering  ?    Yes,  if 
in  the  path  of  duty. 

Conclusion  : — Christians,  let  us  accept  suffering  even 
for  our  well-doing,  if  God  will  that  we  suffer,  and 
rejoice  in  it  as  in  duty's  path,  and  as  the  chastening 
of  a  Father,  and  as  having  the  Spirit  of  glory  and 
of  God  resting  on  us.  If  we  suffer  with  Christ,  we 
shall  also  reign  with  Christ. 

Explanatory  Discussion 

Text : — '*  But  I  have  this  against  thee,  that  thou  didst 
leave  thy  first  love  "  {Bev.  '2  :  Jf). 

Object : — To  bring  lost  love  back  by  pressing  home  the 
guilt  of  it,  and  urging  the  remedy  for  it. 

Introduction  : — The  first  word  of  the  ascended  Lord 
sent  back  to  His  blood-bought  church, — '^  He  that 
hath  an  ear,  etc.,"  therefore  adapted  to  any  church 
similarly  conditioned.  Christ  first  commends^  and 
this  is  His  blessed  way,  if  He  can  find  aught  com- 
mendable. Nevertheless,  He  has  this  against  the 
church  of  Ephesus,  that  she  has  left  her  first  love. 

Theme : — First  love  left. 
I.     The  signs  of  it 


Illustrative  Sermon  Plans  265 

Negatively,  not  a  want  of  service,  for  this  church  was 
rendering  service  : 

(a)  By   laborious    toil    (v.    2).      An   active 

church. 
(Jj)     By  holding  fast  to  the  truth  (v.  2).     An 

orthodox  church. 
((?)     By  patient  endurance  (v.  3).     A  suffering 

church. 

Positively  : 

{a)  A  want  of  ardent  personal  affection  in 
service. 

(b)  A  want  of  joy  in  service. 

(c)  A  want  of  self-forgetfulness  in  service. 

II.     The  sin  of  it. 

(a)  When  love  is  gone,  all  is  gone.  Take  the 
heart  out  of  religion  and  nothing  is 
left  but  dry  bones.  ''  My  son,  give  Me 
thy  heart "  is  the  cry  of  God's  heart. 
He  can  take  nothing  less  and  keep  His 
throne. 

III.     The  cure  of  it. 

{a)     "  Kemember." 
(^)     "  Kepent." 
((?)     ''  Do." 

Conclusion  : — Christians,  can  our  blessed  Lord  see  this 
sin  in  this  church  ?  Let  every  one  examine  himself, 
applying  these  tests :  Is  it  with  warm  personal  af- 
fection and  heartfelt  joy  we  are  doing  work  for 
Christ  ?  If  the  sin  of  having  left  our  first  love  lies 
at  our  door,  let  us  heed  the  warning  of  our  Lord,  and 
remember,  and  repent,  and  do  our  work  for  Christ  in 
the  glow  of  personal  affection. 


266  Related  Ideals 

Explanatory  Discussion 
Text : — Him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
ovii{Joh7i6 :  37). 

Ohject : — To  persuade  a  sinner  to  cry  out,  "  Just  as  I 
am,  O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come." 

Introduction : — What  a  precious  word  "  come  "  is  in 
human  language  and  relation.  How  much  more 
precious,  how  unspeakably  precious,  in  the  gospel 
sense,  when  spoken  to  lost  wanderers  from  God ; 
and  when  accompanied  with  the  gracious  assurance, 
"  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 

Theme  : — Coming  to  Christ ;  its  method  and  result. 
I.     The  way  of  coming. 
Negatively : 

1.  It  is  not  by  commencing  a  process  of  refor- 

mation. Every  sinner  who  comes  to 
Christ  will  reform  ;  but  he  does  not  come 
to  Christ  by  reforming. 

2.  It  is  not  by  attending  religious  meetings 

and  joining  the  church.  He  may  do  this 
and  be  as  far  from  Christ  as  ever. 

3.  It    is    not    by  simply    reading    the    Bible 

and  offering  prayer  ;  doing  these  things 
is  not  coming  to  Christ.     Men  have  done 
them  and  yet  have  perished. 
Affirmatively : 

It  is  having  Christ  in  the  thought  and  heart 
as  the  hope  of  salvation,  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  else. 

Illustrations : — A  burning  building,  man  inside,  his 
thought  on  the  only  door  by  which  escape  is  pos- 


Illustrative  Sermon  Plans  267 

sible,  saying,  I  must  reach  that  door  or  perish.  An 
Israelite,  pursued  by  the  man  slayer,  fleeing  to  the 
city  of  refuge.  Bunyan's  Pilgrim,  with  his  eye  and 
mind  on  the  light,  fleeing  from  the  City  of  Destruc- 
tion. 

This  involves : 

(a)     Looking  out,  not  looking  in. 
(h)     Looking  to  Jesus,  not  looking  to  self, 
or  sin,  or  Church  or  Bible. 
This  is  a  confession  : 

(a)    That  the  seeker  is  a  sinner  needing  to 

be  saved. 
(h)     That  he  cannot  save  himself. 
(0)     That  no  one  else  can  save  him. 
(d)    That  Jesus  can. 
II.     The  result  of  the  coming :     Absolute  certainty  of 
Christ's  welcome. 

(a)    No  matter  what  the  degree  of  previous 

guilt ;  He  will  in  no  wise  cast  out. 
(h)     No  matter  what  the  decree  of  God  ;  He 

will  in  no  wise  cast  out. 
(c)    No  matter  how  weak  the  effort;  He 

will  in  no  wise  cast  out. 
(d)    No  matter  how  slight  the  conviction  of 
sin  ;  He  will  in  no  wise  cast  out. 

Conclusion: — Careless  sinner,  blinded  sinner,  outcast 
sinner,  infamous  sinner,  come  and  come  now.  And 
He  who  never  broke  His  word,  will  keep  it  with 
you,  and  welcome,  pardon,  cleanse  and  save. 

Explanatory  Discussion 

Text : — One  man  esteemeth  one  day  above  another  : 
another  esteemeth  every  day  alike.     Let  each  man 


268  Related  Ideals 

be  fully  assured  in  his  own  mind.  He  that  regard- 
eth  the  day,  regardeth  it  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  he  that 
eateth,  eateth  unto  the  Lord,  for  he  giveth  God 
thanks  ;  and  he  that  eateth  not,  unto  the  Lord  he 
eateth  not,  and  giveth  God  thanks  {Bom.  lit, :  6-6). 

Ohject : — To  lead  Christians  rightly  to  understand,  and 
joyfully  to  obey,  the  gospel  law  of  liberty  in  non- 
essentials. 

Introduction  : — Absolute  subjection  to  the  will  of  God 
demanded  of  every  Christian.  But  what  if  there  be 
no  "  thus  saith  the  Lord  "  to  guide  us  ?  To  meet 
this  case  the  Apostle  gives  us. 

Theme  : — The   doctrine   of  Christian  liberty  in  non- 
essentials. 
I.     The  doctrine  set  forth. 

{a)    There  are  things  neither  enjoined  nor 
prohibited  by  God  which  may  be  done 
or  not  without  affecting  the  moral  char- 
acter    of     the    doer.      Days,    meats, 
amusements,  wine. 
(h)    Concerning  these  every  man  is  to  be  fully 
persuaded  in  his  own  mind  (vs.  5,  6). 
We  are  not  to  be  forced  into  the  groove 
of  another's  conscience. 
IL     The  doctrine  guarded  and  limited. 

{a)    The  Sabbath  day  is  not  yielded  to  this 
liberty. 

1.  It  was  instituted  before  the  ceremo- 

nial law. 

2.  The  reasons  for  its  observance  are 

permanent  and  universal. 


Illustrative  Sermon  Plans  269 

3.     The  law  of  the  Sabbath  is  imbedded 
in  the  moral  law. 
{h)     What  a  man  thinks  to  be  wroiig^  though 
it   be  in  itself  innocent,  is  not  yielded 
to  this  liberty  (v.  14). 
(6)     What  a  man  thinks  to  be  rights  if  the 
doing  cause  a  brother  to  stumble,  is  not 
yielded  (vs.  13,  15,  20,  21). 
(6?)     What  a  man  cannot  do,  or  refrain  from 
doing,   "  to  the  Lord^''  is  not  yielded 
(V.  6). 
III.     The  doctrine  applied.     In  the  exercise  of  Chris- 
tian liberty, 
(a)     We  are  to  beware  of  tampering  with 

conscience  (vs.  14,  15,  21,  23). 
(&)     We  are  not  to  judge  the  brother  whose 
conscience  is  not  as  ours  (vs.  3,  4,  5, 10). 
(c)     We  are  to  have  tender  and  self-sacrific- 
ing regard  to  the  weak. 
(^)     We  are  to  have  supreme  regard  to  the 
glory  of  God. 

Propositional  Discussion 
Text ;— "  Thou  art  the  man  "  (^  Sam.  m :  7). 

Ohject : — To  drive  guilt  home. 

Introduction  : — The  circumstances. 

Theme: — Sin  will  always  return  to  plague  the  sinner. 
I.     Sin  has  a  fearfully  blinding  power. 
[a)     Through  passion. 
(^)     Through  habit, 
(c)    Through  searing  the  conscience. 


270  Related  Ideals 

II.     God  can  pierce  the  blindness,  and  bring  guilt 
home. 
{a)    By  His  knowledge  of  the  heart's  secrets 

(Ps.  90  :  8).— Achan. 
(h)    By  His  control  of  circumstances, 
(c)     By  His  power  of  evoking  conscience. — 
Judas,  Felix. 
III.     He  is  pledged  to  bring  guilt  home  to  every  sin- 
ning soul,  (2  Cor.  5  :  10 ;  Eccl.  12  :  14). 
TV.     Sense  of  personal  guilt  is  therefore  inevitable. 
{a)     Either  in  the  life  that  now  is, 
(h)     Or  at  the  judgment. 

Conclusion  : — Men  should  welcome  the  preaching  that 
shows  them  their  sin  ;  for  the  exposure  and  convic- 
tion are  inevitable  somewhere.  Better  far  be  con- 
vinced of  sin  now  while  pardon  is  possible,  than 
when  probation  is  ended.  Reckless,  hardened 
hearer,  "  Thou  art  the  man."  Self-righteous  hearer, 
thou  art  the  man.  Professedly  Christian  hearer, 
grinding  the  face  of  the  poor,  driving  a  sharp  bar- 
gain, making  the  w^orse  appear  the  better  reason,  m- 
dulging  in  any  secret  sin,  like  David,  having  merely 
the  form  of  godliness,  "  Thou  art  the  man  !  " 

Peopositional  Discussion 

Text : — "  Because  the  mind  of  the  flesh  is  enmity 
against  God  "  {Bom.  8 :  7). 

Introduction : — It  is  a  cruel  mercy  that  lulls  to 
security  by  concealing  danger.  Better  know  the 
worst  if  thereby  we  can  provide  against  it.  God's 
Word  lets  us  see  what  we  are,  that  Tve  may  know 


Illustrative  Sermon  Plans  271 

what  to  do.     The  text  is  one  of  the  mirrors  Scrip- 
ture holds  up  to  nature. 

Theme : — The  heart  of  man  by  nature  is  enmity 
against  God. 

Object : — By  proving  this  truth,  to  show  how  radical 
must  be  the  change  of  heart,  if  any  one  would  be 
saved. 

I.     The  expression  of  authority  is  law. 
II.     The  best  test  of  loyalty  is  obedience. 
III.     The  heart  of  obedience  is  love.     When  born  of 
fear  or  self-interest,  obedience  is  servile  and 
selfish. 
lY.     Man  by  nature  does  not  obey,  for  he  does  not 
love. 

{a)    He  may  be  virtuous  and  not  vicious. 
(5)     He  may  be  amiable  and  not  morose. 
(<?)     He  may  be  forgiving  and  not  revengeful. 
{d)     He  may  be  outwardly  observant  of  relig- 
ious duties,  even. 
But  love  is  deeper  than  all  of  these,  involving 
[a)    Disposedness  towards  God  Himself. 
Q))     Delight  in  His  company. 
{c)     Relish  for  His  law. 
{d)     Desire  for  His  glory. 
Hence,  when  God  comes  with  these  deeper  search- 
ing spiritual  requirements,  the  mind  of  the  flesh  rebels, 
and  its  enmity  is  revealed. 

Conclusion  : — See  here  the  true  test  of  what  we  are 
by  nature.  We  must  look  deeper  than  the  surface. 
The  mischief  is  radical,  and  not  a  question  of  mere 
morality.     It  is  at  the  roots  of  charactqr.     Ferocity 


272  Related  Ideals 

is  in  the  tiger  even  when  fondling  its  young.  Sin  is 
in  the  mother,  even  when  she  is  caressing  her  babe. 
The  plague  spot  of  sin  spreads  its  virus,  even  where 
the  fairest  flowers  of  morality  fling  out  their  bloom. 
If  this  be  so,  how  hopeless  is  reformation.  How 
vital  is  regeneration.  Except  a  man  be  born  again 
he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God. 


PART  THREE 

THE  SEEMON 


XVIII 
ITS  IDEAL  DEFIMTION 


SYLLABUS 

Introductory. — Review — embracing  brief  glance  at  the  great  ideas 
that  uplift  and  glorify  preaching, — and  also  the  related  ideals 
which  have  been  found  to  be  mighty  helps  to  pulpit  efificiency. 

We  are  come  now  to  the  making  of  the  sermon,  and  the  indispen- 
sable first  step  is  definition.  What  is  a  sermon?  Different  definitions 
by  different  writers.  On  ideal  definition  must  have  everything  in  it  that 
ought  to  be  in  it,  and  no  word  in  it  that  ought  to  be  out  of  it.  This 
will  make  the  ideal  sermon  an  address,  a  speech,  a  discourse,  a  relig- 
ious discourse,  a  formal  religious  discourse,  founded  on  God's  Word, 
and  designed  for  salvation,  either  from  sin's  penalty  or  pollution  or 
power,  i.  e.,  designed  to  bring  men  to  Christ  or  to  make  them  like 
Christ.    There  is  no  other  business  for  a  sermon. 

What  would  follow  such  preaching  ?    In  some  pulpits,  a  revolution. 


XVIII 

ITS  IDEAL  DEFINITION 

INTRODUCTOKY :  We  have  already  considered 
those  great  distinctive  ideas,  indissolubly  con- 
nected with  the  gospel  ministry,  and  which  up- 
lift and  glorify  it  as  the  art  of  arts,  and  we  found 
them  to  be  preaching  as  its  permanent  function,  mak- 
ing men  Christlike  its  supreme  aim,  love  its  ruling 
spirit,  the  Word  of  God  its  subject-matter,  preaching 
Christ  its  preeminent  business,  Christ  crucified  its  cen- 
tral theme,  everlasting  life  and  death  its  eternal  sanc- 
tions, and  the  Holy  Spirit  its  cooperating  agent. 

We  have  also  had  before  us  those  related  ideals 
which  are  mighty  helps  to  pulpit  efficiency  :  the  ideal 
call  to  the  ministry,  the  ideal  student,  the  ideal  study, 
the  ideal  law  of  adaptation,  the  ideal  way  of  preach- 
ing old  doctrines  in  new  times,  the  ideal  methods  of 
preaching,  and  the  ideal  kinds  of  discussion. 

Let  it  be  remembered  also,  that  ever  since  the  first 
heavenly  ratification  of  public  Christian  discourse  at 
Pentecost,  the  true  sermon,  however  wanting  in  the 
enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,  has  been,  more  often 
than  any  other  instrumentality,  "  in  demonstration  of 
the  Spirit  and  of  power."  However  its  form  has 
changed,  and  wherever  pomp  and  ceremonial  and 
ritual  or  the  crudities  and  vagaries  and  vain  reasonings 
of  philosophy,  falsely  so-called,  have  not  crowded  out 
the  Word  of  God,  the  sermon  has  continued  to  occupy 

276 


276  The  Sermon 

the  place  of  recognized  and  commanding  importance. 
God  has  honoured  it  above  all  other  products  in  prop- 
agating the  truth  and  saving  men.  The  sermon 
"  always  has  been,  and  ever  must  remain,  the  essential 
complement  of  the  idea  of  preaching."  And  preach- 
ing, as  we  have  already  seen,  is  the  preeminent  busi- 
ness of  every  ambassador  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  follows, 
therefore,  that  the  sermon  is  of  paramount  value  and 
has  supreme  place  among  the  means  employed  to  ex- 
tend the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  edify  the  church. 

To  prepare  and  deliver  sermons  and  to  see  that  as 
far  as  in  him  lies  these  sermons  get  translated  into  the 
lives  of  those  who  hear  them,  is,  therefore,  the  great 
life-work  of  the  preacher.  And  he  should  test  special 
fondness  for  this  or  that  study  by  the  help  it  directly 
or  indirectly  renders  him  in  sermonizing.  He  must 
put  the  curb  and  the  bit  on  any  linguistic  bias,  or 
delight  in  philosophic  speculation,  or  passion  for  anti- 
quarian research,  that  makes  him  blind  to  the  one 
purpose  for  which  he  is  in  the  ministry  ;  viz.,  to  make 
God's  truth  plain  and  mighty  as  he  holds  it  forth 
Sabbath  by  Sabbath.  No  preacher  can  effectually 
shy  Hebrew  roots  at  his  congregation.  IN'or  can  he 
lift  his  hearers  God  ward  by  metaphysical  abstrac- 
tions. Nor  can  he  healthfully  dump  the  musty  lore 
of  some  old  dead  century  into  their  lap.  But  he 
can,  and  should,  make  Hebrew  roots  grow  many  a 
fruitful  bough  in  the  garden  of  the  Lord,  and  he  can, 
and  should,  compel  philosophy  to  be  a  mighty  ad- 
junct in  helping  him  preach  the  philosophy  of  the  Gos- 
pel ;  and  he  can,  and  should,  make  all  histories  live 
again,  as  he  writes  new  history  with  them  in  the 
hearts  and  lives  of  to-day. 


Its  Ideal  Definition  277 

Only  let  him  keep  his  eye  on  the  goal,  have  dis- 
tinctly in  mind  the  ideal  definition  of  a  sermon,  and 
determine,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  do  what  in  him 
lies  to  realize  and  make  actual  the  ideal  in  his  weekly 
ministry. 

We  are  come  now  to  the  makhig  of  the  sermon.  We 
are  to  consider  the  ideals  that  prepare  the  way  for, 
and  that  enter  into,  sermonic  structure.  For,  sermons 
are  not  born.  They  are  made.  They  are  products  of 
study  and  discipline.  They  are  also  products  of  faith 
and  prayer,  beyond  a  doubt — illuminations,  inspirations. 
But  "  faith  without  works  "  is  as  "  dead  "  here  as  it  is 
anywhere.  And  eyes  will  not  be  opened  to  see  won- 
drous things  out  of  God's  law,  if  they  are  not  on  the 
search  for  the  hid  treasures,  and  preparing  the  way 
for  the  divine  illumination. 

What,  then,  is  a  sermon  ?  We  need  exact  definition 
here  as  we  do  everywhere  else,  Avhere  construction  of 
any  kind  is  to  be  undertaken.  If  there  is  vagueness 
in  our  definition,  there  will  be  vagueness  in  the  ser- 
mons. We  cannot  chisel  precision  out  of  a  fog  bank. 
Exact  definition  will  tell  us  what  belongs  to  a  sermon, 
and  will  help  us  see  that  a  good  many  things  that 
come  knocking  for  admittance  at  the  door  of  a  ser- 
mon, and  that,  alas  I  too  often  get  in,  have  no  business 
there.  The  absolutely  indispensable  quality  of  defini- 
tion is  precision.  Definition  is  both  inclusive  and  ex- 
clusive. It  must  include  all  that  essentially  belongs 
to  the  thing  defined,  and  it  must  exclude  all  that  does 
not  belong  to  the  thing  defined. 

From  this  view-point  the  definitions  of  a  sermon  that 
are  found  in  our  popular  dictionaries  are  lamentably 
deficient,  and  practically  worthless. 


278  The  Sermon 

Here  is  the  "Webster  Dictionary  definition :  "  A 
discourse  delivered  in  public  (usually,  by  a  clergyman) 
for  the  purpose  of  religious  instruction,  and  grounded 
on  some  text  or  passage  of  Scripture."  A  parenthesis 
is  never  at  home  in  a  definition,  and  certainly  has  no 
place  in  a  sermonic  definition.  And  whether  the  ser- 
mon is  delivered  in  public  or  in  private,  or  not  at  all, 
it  is  still  a  sermon.  And  whether  "  delivered  by  a 
clergyman,"  or  a  clergyman's  wife,  or  a  phonograph, 
it  would  still  be  a  sermon. 

Here  is  the  Standard  Dictionary  definition  :  "  A  dis- 
course by  a  clergyman  upon  some  religious  topic,  based 
on  a  passage  or  text  of  the  Bible,  and  delivered  as  part 
of  a  church  service."  ^  In  this  definition  some  of  the 
Webster  errors  are  reproduced,  and,  in  addition,  we 
have  this  clause — "  delivered  as  part  of  a  church 
service," — which  has  just  as  much  to  do  with  the  defi- 
nition of  a  sermon  as  where  a  dog  barked  has  to  do 
with  the  definition  of  his  bark. 

But  some  notable  preachers,  and  some  writers  on 
preaching,  have  been  little  better  than  the  dictionaries 
in  their  attempted  definition  of  a  sermon. 

Dr.  Shedd's  characterization  of  a  sermon  as  "the 
elongation  of  a  text,"  is,  of  course,  no  attempt  at  ex- 
act definition,  and  was  not  meant  to  be.  But  it  is  the 
nearest  to  a  definition  of  anything  in  his  "  Homiletics." 
It  would  apply  to  a  piece  of  commentary  or  of  exegesis 
as  well  as  to  a  sermon,  and  it  omits  almost  everything 
vital  to  a  sermon. 

Here  is  a  definition  by  a  distinguished  scholar  and 

^The  Standard  Dictionary  is  exceptionally  excellent  in  its  defini- 
tions, but  the  ministerial  heads  must  have  been  nodding  when  they 
let  this  sermon  definition  go  in. 


Its  Ideal  Definition  279 

preacher,  that  appears  at  first  sight  to  be  marked  by 
the  finest  analytical  precision  :  "  A  sermon  is  a  rhetor- 
ical organism  evolved  by  a  genetic  process  from  a  text, 
and  standing  in  vital  and  obvious  relation  to  it."  But 
if  we  put  this  definition  to  the  test  of  analysis,  it  will 
be  seen  to  be  little  better  than  Dr.  Shedd's  broad  char- 
acterization, and  to  the  last  degree  redundant.  The 
seventeen  words  following  the  word  "  organism  "  can 
better  be  put  in  four  words;  viz. ^  horn  of  a  text. 
"  Evolved  by  a  genetic  process,"  means  "  born,"  and 
the  rest  of  the  definition  is  surplusage.  For  it  cer- 
tainly adds  nothing  to  the  thought  to  tell  us  that  a 
child  born  of  a  mother,  "  stands  in  vital  and  obvious 
relation "  to  that  mother !  Moreover,  the  phrase, 
"  rhetorical  organism,"  is  indefinite.  It  would  apply 
to  an  essay  or  a  bit  of  exegesis  or  a  piece  of  com- 
mentary. Pope's  "  Essay  on  Man,"  "  is  a  rhetorical  or- 
ganism, evolved  by  a  genetic  process  from  a  text 
('  What  is  Man ')  and  standing  in  vital  and  obvious  re- 
lation to  it ; "  but  Pope's  "  Essay  on  Man  "  is  not  a 
sermon,  except  in  the  loosest  sense.  It  is  a  religious 
poem,  a  moral  essay  in  rhyme ;  not  a  speech. 

Austin  Phelps,  so  long  the  scholarly  rhetor  and 
homilete  of  Andover,  in  his  "  Theory  of  Preaching," 
defines  a  sermon  as  "  An  oral  address  to  the  popular 
mind,  on  religious  truth  contained  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  elaborately  treated  with  a  view  to  persuasion." 
But  while  this  definition  is  marked  by  some  superior 
qualities,  it  is  fatally  lacking  in  precision.  It  is  neither 
inclusive  nor  exclusive — the  two  absolutely  vital  qual- 
ities in  definition.  The  word  "oral"  is  superfluous. 
What  it  implies  is  implied  in  the  word  "address" — 
something  to  be  spoken.     If  it  means  a  spoken  address 


28o  The  Sermon 

— a  discourse  actually  uttered — then  a  sermon  is  not  a 
sermon  until  it  is  delivered.  This  is  of  course  absurd. 
But  still  further,  a  sermon  is  not  necessarily  "  to  the 
popular  mind."  For  it  might  be  to  a  body  of  scien- 
tists, and  by  their  request  {e.  g.,  the  American  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of  Science),  and  therefore 
properly  packed  to  the  full  with  technical  terms  and 
illustrations,  which,  while  perfectly  adapted  to  the  sci- 
entific minds  addressed,  would  be  only  Hebrew  or 
Hottentot  "  to  the  popular  mind."  "  Elaborately 
treated,"  is  another  defining  phrase  in  this  definition 
by  Phelps  that  is  clearly  without  warrant.  For  some 
most  mightily  effective  sermons  have  been  marked  by 
a  quietness  and  simplicity  at  the  farthest  remove  from 
elaboration. 

What,  then,  is  a  sermon  ?  Here  is  our  answer  to 
this  vital  question  :  A  sermon  is  a  forinal  religious 
discourse^  founded  on  the  Word  of  God,  and  designed  to 
save  Tnen.  This  definition  is  the  product  of  a  good 
deal  of  cutting  and  chipping  and  hewing.  It  has  had 
frequent  class-room  discussion.  Let  us  take  it  to  pieces, 
and  test  it  by  analysis,  and  see  if  every  word  is  in  it 
that  ought  to  be  in  it,  and  if  no  word  is  in  it  that 
ought  to  be  out  of  it. 

Beginning  with  the  substantive,  fundamental  word 
— the  thought-word  :  A  sermon  is  a  discourse :  i.  e.y 
a  speech,  an  address ;  which  distinguishes  it  from  an 
essay  or  an  exegesis  or  a  piece  of  commentary.  It 
may  contain  exegesis  or  commentary  as  positively 
necessary  to  the  hearer's  understanding,  and  contribu- 
tive  to  the  preacher's  purpose.  But  exegesis  must  not 
monopolize  the  sermon  ;  must  never  prevent  the  ser- 
mon from  taking  an  oratorical  form.     The  sermon  is 


Its  Ideal  Definition  281 

a  speech,  a  thing  to  be  spoken.  It  is  to  reach  and 
move  the  will. 

Again  :  A  sermon  is  "  a  religious  discourse  "  ;  which 
distinguishes  it  from  speech  that  is  secular  in  its  tone 
and  spirit  and  subject-matter. 

And  again  :  It  is  ''''founded  on  the  Word  of  God  "  ; 
which  distinguishes  it  from  all  other  speech  that  has 
only  human  authority  and  sanction. 

Finally,  it  is  "  designed  to  save  men  "  ;  which  dis- 
tinguishes it  from  all  other  speech  aiming  only  at  in- 
struction or  reformation.  This  purpose  of  salvation — 
in  the  broad,  deep.  Scriptural  sense  of  salvation ; 
namely,  salvation  from  sin — is  the  preeminent  mark 
of  the  sermon,  and  absolutely  indispensable  to  sermonic 
integrity.  If  the  sermon  is  to  the  impenitent,  then 
the  purpose  is  salvation  from  the  penalty  of  sin,  by 
bringing  the  sinner  to  Christ — for  "  there  is  no  con- 
demnation to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus." 
If  the  sermon  is  to  Christians — to  those  who 
are  already  united  to  Christ  by  faith — then,  the 
purpose  is  salvation  from  the  power  and  the  pol- 
lution of  sin,  by  making  the  Christian  more  Christ- 
like. 

Of  course,  each  may  do  the  other's  work.  Such  is 
the  blessed  sufficiency  of  divine  grace.  A  touching 
appeal  to  the  impenitent  may  melt  a  whole  body  of 
believers  to  tears,  because  of  their  supineness  and 
worldly-mindedness,  and  may  put  them  at  once  to  serv- 
ice in  seeking  and  saving  the  lost.  And  a  searching 
sermon  to  believers  may  be  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  to 
smite  clean  through  the  refuge  of  lies  where  a  man  of 
the  world  in  fancied  security  has  been  hiding  himself. 
But  in  either  case,  and  in  any  case,  it  is  salvation  from 


282  The  Sermon 

sin — either  from  its  penalty  or  from  its  pollution  or 
from  its  power. 

Hence,  it  may  be  said,  with  all  possible  emphasis, 
that  a  sermon  has  no  other  business  than  to  do  this 
thing.  If  it  is  not  designed  and  adapted  either  to 
bring  men  to  Christ  or  to  make  them  Christlike,  then, 
away  with  it.  Whatever  wealth  of  original  research 
it  may  exhibit,  and  with  whatever  charm  of  fascinat- 
ing rhetoric  it  may  be  accompanied,  for  sermonicuse 
it  is  as  *'  wood,  hay  and  stubble,"  and  fit  only  to  be 
burned. 

Suppose,  now,  that  every  minister,  as  he  begins  his 
weekly  sermonic  work,  should  distinctly  say  to  him- 
self :  This  is  an  address,  a  discourse,  a  speech  I  am  to 
prepare  for  my  people.  It  is  to  be  distinctly  religious, 
having  for  its  warrant  and  base  the  Word  of  God.  It 
means  changed  hearts  down  there  in  the  pews,  and 
changed  liv^es  out  amongst  men,  going  to  the  roots  of 
moral  character — a  regeneration  and  a  sanctification, 
seeking  either  to  free  men  at  once  and  forever  through 
Jesus  Christ,  from  sin's  penalty,  or  seeking  to  give 
them  the  purity  and  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God  by 
freeing  them  more  and  more  from  sin's  pollution  and 
sin's  power. 

What  would  surely  follow  ?  Do  we  not  all  know 
that  in  some  pulpits  a  revolution  would  follow  ? 

Suppose  again  that  every  man  of  God  who  preaches 
should  hold  distinctly  in  mind  the  great  Christian 
quadrangle,  representing  in  its  four  sides  the  Incarna- 
tion, the  Resurrection,  the  Ascension,  and  the  Inter- 
cession of  Jesus  Christ,  and  having  at  its  centre  an  up- 
lifted and  blood-stained  cross — that  cross  giving  to 
the  Incarnation,  the  Resurrection,  the  Ascension,  and 


Its  Ideal  Definition  283 

the  Intercession  of  Christ  their  only  meaning  and  their 
fullest  justification — then  surely  it  would  be  the  con- 
stant purpose  and  the  ever-deepening  joy  of  every 
man  of  God  who  preaches  to  make  each  sermon  a  for- 
mal religious  discourse  founded  on  the  Word  of  God 
and  designed  to  save  men. 


XIX 
ITS  IDEAL  <'C0:N^STANTS'^ 


SYLLABUS 

Introductory. — The  "constants  "  pertain  to  a  man's  entire  ministry. 
They  look  towards  preparation  for  all  the  Sundays ;  distinct  from  those 
that  have  to  do  with  preparation  for  the  next  Sunday.     They  are  : 

I.  The   constant   cultivation  of  a  vivid  sense  of  the  divine  realities  of  the 

gospel  message. 

(a)     What  this  involves. 

(6)  Reasons  for  its  possession  :  (1)  The  preacher  is  to 
handle  these  things  in  his  sermons.  To  make  them 
realities  to  others,  they  must  be  intensely  real  to 
him.  (2)  Nothing  will  so  arm  the  preacher  with 
power. 

(c)     How  secured  :     By    companionship — meditation. 

II.  The  constant  cultivation  of  the  homiletic  bias. 

(a)  Possible  to  every  mind.  Homiletic  bias  is  born  of 
homiletic  practice.  Frequent  repetition  gives  two 
things :  tendency,  facility. 

(&)  Direct  advantages :  (1)  Gives  method,  (2)  Greater 
facility  in  grasping  salient  points.  (3)  Increasing 
command  of  materials.  (4)  Glow  in  actual  com- 
position, 

(c)  Importance    of    homiletic  bias.     Homiletics    is  his 

business.  Get  insensity ;  narrow  the  channel ;  make 
pulpit  a  throne ;  transmute  everything  you  touch 
into  sermon. 

(d)  Means  of  cultivation  :      (1)     Give  much  thought  to 

plan-making.  (2)  Take  up  sermons  and  analyze 
them.  (3)  Have  a  text-book,  and  use  it.(A)  Be- 
ware of  books  of  skeletons  :  They  warp  originality ; 
their  use  is  often  immoral. 

III.  The  constant  cultivation  of  familiarity  with  sources  of  material. 
The  Bible,  other  books,  living  men. 

(a)     The    Bible    preeminently:     (1)     Why     the    Bible? 
(2)  With  what  spirit?     (3)     By   what   method? 


(a)     Study  the  text  itself.     (6)     Read  whole  books 
at  one  sitting. 
(6)     Other  books :     (1)     On  the  Bible.     (2)     Philosophy. 

(3)     Psychology.     (4)     History.     (5)    Science, 
(c)     Living  men. 
IV.     The  constant  presence  of  a  lofty  standard  of  sermonizing.     Standard 
cannot  be  too  high. 
Consider  first,  the  peculiar  character  of  the  times. 
Consider  secondly,  the  work  a  sermon  is  to  do. 
Consider  thirdly.  Apostolic  example. 

Two  cautions  :  (1)  Standard  should  not  be  simple  excellency  of 
speech.  (2)  The  vital  thing  is  not  the  number  of  sermons  but  the 
kind  they  are,  and  the  work  they  are  fitted  to  do. 

These  four  "constants  "  make  some  things  impossible  : 

(1)  That  a  minister  should  grow  old  before  his  time. 

(2)  That  a  minister  should  ever  exhaust  his  stock. 

(3)  That  a  minister  should  ever  be  out-of-date. 

(4)  That  a  minister  should  ever  be  afraid. 


XIX 

ITS  IDEAL  ' '  CONSTANTS ' ' 

WE  have  discussed  the  great  ideas  indissolubly 
connected  with  preaching,  and  which  uplift 
and  glorify  it  as  the  art  of  arts. 

We  have  also  defined  the  sermon,  and  have  sought 
to  show  that  the  definition  is  ideal :  i.  e.j  inclusive  of 
everything  vital  to  a  sermon,  and  exclusive  of  every- 
thing dispensable. 

We  are  now  to  consider  that  which  should  be  con- 
stant in  the  pursuit  of  this  supreme  art  of  preaching — 
the  ideal  qualities  that  should  enter  into  all  sermonic 
construction,  and  that  should  have  study  and  care 
throughout  one's  entire  ministry. 

This  involves  those  matters,  by  faithful  attention  to 
which  the  preacher  is  to  get  ready  for  all  the  Sundays  ; 
and  they  are  to  be  distinguished  from  the  immediate 
steps  by  which  he  is  to  get  ready  for  the  next  Sunday. 
The  one  may  be  termed  general  preparation :  the 
other,  special  preparation.  The  one  may  be  character- 
ized as  the  ideal  "  constants  *'  in  sermonic  construction  ; 
the  other,  the  ideal  "  immediates"  in  sermonic  con- 
struction. 

The  "  constants  "  are  as  follows  :  the  constant  cul- 
tivation of  a  more  and  more  vivid  and  abiding  sense 
of  the  divine  realities  of  the  gospel  message ;  the  con- 
stant cultivation  of  the  homiletio  bias ;  the  constant 

289 


290  The  Sermon 

cultivation  of  familiarity  with  the  sources  of  materials  ; 
and  the  constant  presence  of  a  lofty  standard  of  ser- 
monizing. 

Let  us  consider  these  in  their  order  : 

I.  The  constant  cultivation  of  a  more  and  more 
vivid  and  abiding  sense  of  the  divine  realities  of  the 
gospel  message  : 

(a)  This  clearly  involves  something  beyond  a  mere 
conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  great  doctrines  of  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  even  something  beyond  a  practical  belief 
in  them,  leading  to  the  outward  and  ordinary  consist- 
encies of  Christian  life.  An  unregenerate  man  may 
be  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrines.  An 
ordinary  Christian  may  have  the  ordinarj^  Christian 
consistencies.  But  surely  a  prophet  of  God  should 
have  something  more.  For  a  minister  to  fail  of  an 
exhibition  of  ordinary  piety,  is  to  cut  the  throat  of  the 
best  sermon  he  can  preach,  and  to  make  preaching 
utterly  abortive.  It  is  inconsistent  with  any  true  no- 
tion of  the  ministerial  office.  The  preacher  is  to  be  an 
example  to  the  believer,  in  word,  in  conversation,  in 
charity,  in  spirit  and  faith  and  purity,  "  having  a  good 
report  of  them  which  are  without,"  and  "  not  falling 
into  reproach  or  the  snare  of  the  devil."  He  must 
have  a  character  above  suspicion. 

But  a  truly  vivid  sense  of  the  divine  realities  of  the 
gospel  message  involves  far  more  than  this.  It  means 
a  sacred  continued  commerce  with  the  other  life,  lead- 
ing to  an  ever-deepening  consciousness  of  its  realities 
— a  more  and  more  vivid  sense  of  the  unseen — a  walk 
with  God  as  if  in  the  very  presence  of  the  powers  of 
the  world  to  come.  Underneath  all  preparation,  per- 
vading and  filling  the  intellectual  atmosphere  as  sun- 


Its  Ideal  "Constants"  291 

light  fills  and  floods  the  material  atmosphere,  must  be 
this  sense  of  the  invisible  and  infinite. 

(h)  Reasons  for  possessing  this  vivid  sense  of  the 
divine  realities  of  the  gospel  message  : 

(1)  The  preacher  is  to  handle  these  things  in  his 
sermons.  To  make  them  anything  like  realities  to 
others,  they  must  be  intensely  real  to  him.  He  must 
see  them  with  faith's  eye.  A  man  who  has  this  clear 
sight  and  sense  of  eternal  realities,  "  walks  with  God," 
like  Enoch.  He  endures  "as  seeing  Him  who  is  in- 
visible,*' like  Moses.  He  knows  whom  he  has  believed, 
and  to  him  "  to  live  is  Christ,"  like  Paul.  He  is  face 
to  face  with  the  eternal  forces  and  facts,  and  he  be- 
comes the  medium  through  which  the  fire  and  power 
of  these  eternal  forces  and  facts  are  brought  to  men. 
He  opens  to  the  material  world  and  lets  down  upon  it 
the  inspirations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  he  stands  with 
a  sense  of  God,  and  of  eternity,  and  of  the  instant 
and  imminent  peril  of  lost  souls,  charged  with  these 
and  all  other  realities  of  that  unseen  life,  and  seeking 
to  uplift  and  spiritualize  the  souls  before  him  by  the 
contact  and  admixture. 

(2)  Nothing,  moreover,  will  so  arm  the  preacher 
with  power.  He  comes  to  see  how  arms  and  armies 
and  sciences  and  philosophies  and  any  and  all  com- 
binations of  evil  men  are  no  match  whatever  for  a 
God-trusting  spirit.  He  thus  learns  the  entire  su- 
premacy of  spiritual  over  carnal  things.  To  his  un- 
veiled face  there  come  to  be  revealed  the  invisible 
troops  of  God  covering  the  mountain  ;  and  he  Jcnows 
that  they  that  be  for  Him  are  more  than  they  that  be 
against  Him. 

{c)    How  is  this  vivid  sense  to  be  secured?    By 


292  The  Sermon 

comjyanionship  with  the  invisible.  By  taking  time  to 
get  acquainted.  Positively,  there  is  no  other  way. 
Brief  and  infrequent  fellowship  will  not  answer.  The 
powers  of  the  world  to  come  cannot  be  known  by 
snatching  a  mere  glance  at  them  in  our  set  seasons  of 
devotion.  There  must  be  much  meditation  on  God's 
Word,  brooding  and  brooding  over  it ;  much  personal 
communion  with  God  in  the  '*  still  hour,"  much  open- 
ing of  the  sluices  of  the  heart  for  the  Spirit  to  pour  in 
His  revelations.  If  these  mighty  realities  of  God's 
spiritual  kingdom  are  to  be  something  more  than 
vague  notions,  or  mere  intellectual  beliefs,  we  must 
get  into  their  presence  and  stay  there,  with  a  cry  to 
God  for  vision.  And  vision  will  come,  and  with  it 
will  come  vivid  sense  of  eternal  truths  and  facts  :  and 
this  mes.ns  power.  Down  from  these  heights  Peter  and 
Paul  came,  and  preached,  and  men  heard  as  for  their 
lives.  And  so  they  have  ever  since,  when  preachers 
have  come  from  these  same  heights.  It  was  this  that 
made  Luther's  words  "  thunderbolts."  Jonathan  Ed- 
Avards  shook  his  parish,  not  because  of  his  intellect, 
but  because  he  saw  God.  From  out  this  presence  also 
spake  Baxter  and  Pascal  and  McCheyne  and  Knox 
and  Whitefield.  It  was  this  that  made  ^hinney  the 
great  searcher  of  hearts  among  revivalists,  and  that 
made  Moody  to  rive  men's  souls. 

No  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  can  preach  these  eternal 
realities  and  powers,  if  he  does  not  have  a  vivid  sense 
of  them.  He  may  repeat  them,  parrot-like,  but  he  can- 
not hurl  them  with  a  John-the-Baptist  earnestness,  or  a 
Pauline  energy,  or  a  Christlike  tenderness  of  power, 
if  they  are  not  the  overmastering  forces  in  his  own 
soul.    To  make  them  so,  he  must  be  a  good  deal  in 


Its  Ideal  "Constants"  293 

God's  company.  He  must  learn,  day  by  day,  to  walk 
with  God.  He  must  look  long  and  lovingly  into  the 
glass  of  the  Word  until  he  beholds  the  glory  of  his 
Lord  there.  First  and  last,  in  all  his  preaching  he 
must  seek  to  stand,  when  he  preaches, — he  must  dare 
to  forego  other  things,  that  he  may  stand  when  he 
preaches, — in  the  constant  presence  of  things  unseen. 
He  will  not  rest  with  an  unmoved  heart,  while  seek- 
in":  to  move  other  hearts.  He  will  make  it  manifest 
to  his  hearers  that  in  painting  the  great  things  of  God's 
everlasting  kingdom,  he  has  learned  to  "  dip  his  pencil 
in  the  azure  of  heaven." 

For  helps  to  this  vivid  sense  of  the  spiritual  and 
eternal,  read  sermons  like  Cheever's  "  Powers  of  the 
World  to  Come,"  or  Shedd's  "  Sermons  to  the  Natural 
Man."  Go  often  and  often  to  portions  of  God's  Word, 
like  the  eighth  chapter  of  Romans,  or  the  twenty-fifth 
of  Matthew,  or  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  or  those 
portions  of  Isaiah  which  treat  of  the  spiritual  triumphs 
(Ch.  25) ;  of  the  power  of  God  (Ch.  40);  of  the  atone- 
ment (Ch.  53);  of  the  blessed  invitation  (Ch.  55). 
Spend  days  and  days  of  spiritual  delight  and  abysmal 
joy  in  the  Psalm  country — and  look  often  from  Patmos 
through  John's  eyes,  and  join  in  the  new  song,  "  Worthy 
art  Thou,  O  Lamb  of  God,  to  receive  the  blessing  and 
the  honour  and  the  dominion  and  the  glory  forever 
and  ever, — for  Thou  wast  slain  and  didst  purchase  unto 
God  with  Thy  blood  men  of  every  tribe  and  tongue 
and  people  and  nation."  But  above  all  ponder  the  pro- 
found warnings  and  tender  beseechings  and  heart-cries 
of  Jesus  Himself. 

And  let  it  be  remembered  that  this  spiritual  vision 
of  heavenly  things  and  this  commerce  with  them,  this 


294  The  Sermon 

constant  cultivation  of  a  vivid  sense  of  the  divine 
realities  of  the  gospel  message,  is  not  a  matter  of 
great  brains ;  nor  is  it  dependent  on  scholarly  research ; 
nor  is  it  the  product  of  higher  or  lower  criticism. 
These  are  unquestionable  aids  to  great  thoughts  of 
God.  But  Moody,  no  less  than  Moses,  "endured  as 
seeing  Him  who  is  invisible."  And  _Phinney,  the  re- 
vivalist, alike  with  Jonathan  Edwards,  "walked  with 
God."  And  Whitefield,  who  had  little  of  logical 
process,  and  Paul  who  had  much,  had  intimate  fel- 
lowship with  eternal  realities.  And  Gipsy  Smith 
comes  from  out  the  presence  as  truly  as  Moses  came, 
when  descending  from  Sinai.  It  is  not  so  much  massive 
intellect  as  purity  of  heart,  that  sees  God. 

11.  Another  constant  that  should  always  have 
place  in  the  work  of  preaching  is  the  constant  cultiva- 
tion of  a  homiletic  Mas. 

This  bias  is  a  tendency  to  the  classification  and 
orderly  arrangement  of  materials  for  sermonic  use ; 
in  other  words,  the  organizing^  methodizing  power  in 
sermonizing. 

(a)  And  of  this  it  should  be  said  at  the  outset  that 
it  is  possible  to  every  mind^  though  more  easily  ac- 
quired by  some  than  by  others.  Certainly  the  forma- 
tion of  our  mental  habits  is  largely  under  our  own 
control.  It  is  the  commonest  of  truisms  that  the  fre- 
quent repetition  of  an  act  will  give  both  increased 
tendency  to  the  action,  and  increased  facility  in  its 
doing.  The  ease  and  readiness  with  which  the  mind 
comes  to  do  some  things  through  discipline  and  prac- 
tice, are  marvellous.  Let  the  mind  get  accustomed  to 
the  severer  processes  of  logic,  and  it  will  soon  tend 
to  make  everything  run  to  sjdlogism.     Let  the  fancy 


Its  Ideal  "Constants"  295 

be  constantly  stimulated,  and  at  last  the  mind,  as  by 
instinct,  will  compel  all  ideas  to  take  to  themselves 
poetic  forms.  So  an  organizing  tendency  may  be 
cultivated — a  habit  of  mind  that  shall  lead  to  classifi- 
cation and  orderly  arrangement  in  the  use  of  all  its 
materials.  And  this,  in  connection  with  the  work  of 
preaching,  is  what  is  here  termed  the  homiletic  bias — 
the  tendency  to  organize  in  the  direction  of  sermon- 
izing— the  constructive  tendency. 

(5)  The  direct  advantages  of  the  homiletic  bias 
are  obvious.  (1)  It  gives  method  in  homiletic  toil. 
And  the  men  of  method  are  the  men  of  achievement. 
Men  that  scatter  shot,  aim  at  nothing  and  hit  it.  He 
whose  work  of  sermonizing  is  at  loose  ends  is  shorn  of 
half  his  effectiveness. 

(2)  This  bias  also  gives  great  facility  in  grasping 
the  salient  points  of  a  text.  The  thoughts  in  the  text 
and  about  it,  will  place  themselves  naturally  in  proper 
succession.  Everything  will  tend  to  glide  into  plan. 
And  out  of  the  realm  of  haziness  and  indefiniteness, 
with  less  and  less  delay  as  the  methodizing  power  is 
developed,  will  come  the  dry  bones  of  a  skeleton,  in- 
stinct already  with  the  promise  and  potency  of  life, 
and  waiting  to  be  clothed  with  flesh  and  blood.  The 
mind  will  be  by  a  growing  bias  ready  for  construc- 
tion, and  will  feel  no  necessity  of  leaning  on  the 
crutches  of  some  other  plan  builder. 

(3)  The  homiletic  bias  also  gives  the  preacher  in- 
creasing command  of  all  the  materials  furnished  by  his 
reading  and  study.  Every  book  into  w^hich  he  dips, 
every  department  of  art  or  science  or  literature  he 
explores,  every  field  of  truth  he  enters  for  investiga- 
tion will,    with  ever-increasing  facility,  be  made  to 


296  The  Sermon 

yield  its  stores  by  way  of  proof  or  suggestion  or  illus- 
tration, and  so  augment  the  wealth  and  effective 
power  of  his  pulpit  discourse.  This  strong,  sermon- 
izing tendency,  this  homiletic  bias  of  mind,  will  com- 
pel all  these  materials  to  shape  themselves  so  as  best 
to  further  the  purpose  of  each  discourse. 

(4)  Still  further,  this  bias  gives  glow  to  the  ser- 
monizer  in  the  process  of  actual  composition.  The 
task  becomes  congenial.  The  materials  are  at  hand. 
The  plan  has  grown  into  orderly  shape.  It  has  taken 
clear  and  definite  outline.  The  preacher  has  his  sub- 
ject well  in  hand  ;  knows  his  aim  ;  is  not  lashed  into 
the  service  by  the  necessities  of  the  weak,  but  leaps 
to  it  as  to  a  delight,  eager  to  rescue  or  to  mould.  The 
plan  is  his  own,  and  the  freshness  of  it,  the  inspira- 
tion of  it,  puts  oil  to  all  the  wheels  of  his  mental 
machinery,  and  his  sermon  is  written  in  a  glow. 

Hence,  (c)  The  importance  of  the  homiletic  bias.  It 
is  just  as  important  to  the  preacher  as  the  imagina- 
tive bias  is  to  the  poet.  He  should  make  everything 
pour  into  the  channel  of  sermonizing,  just  as  the  poet 
makes  everything  contribute  to  what  he  deems  his 
divine  art.  Preaching  is  his  business,  and  should  be 
his  whole  business.  He  has  sacredly  committed  him- 
self to  it.  Alexander  says,  "  To  be  a  great  preacher, 
a  man  must  be  nothing  else."  ^  He  must  forego  the 
reputation  which  comes  from  erudition  and  literature. 
The  channel  must  be  narrowed,  that  the  stream  may 
flow  in  a  rapid  current,  and  its  impact  produce  a 
mighty  impression. 

If  sermons  are  constructed  to  secure  reconstructed 
manhood, — if  they  are  built  to  build  men  in  Christ 
*  "Thoughts  on  Preachiag,"  p.  15. 


Its  Ideal  "Constants"  297 

Jesus,  what  other  work  is  there  like  it !  It  should 
have  a  kind  of  sacred  monopoly  of  discipline  and 
acquisition.  No  other  intellectual  calling  can  be  safely 
or  wisely  pursued  along  with  it.  To  be  efficient  homi- 
letes,  successful  and  great  in  this  high  calling  of  God 
as  preachers  of  the  eternal  Word,  the  whole  life  must 
be  made  to  run  towards  the  pulpit.  It  will  take  what 
there  is  in  any  man — all  of  it  and  at  its  best,  to  do 
the  work  justice.  The  man  has  never  yet  been  seen, 
built  large  enough  to  go  much  beyond  this. 

The  ideal  ministry  will  therefore  learn  to  transmute 
everything  it  touches  into  sermon.  The  ideal  min- 
ister will  grow  organific  as  he  grows  in  grace — and  so 
develop  this  methodizing  power  as  to  render  it  year 
by  year  swifter  and  surer  in  results. 

{d)  Means  of  cultivation  will  readily  suggest  them- 
selves, and  should  be  put  to  constant  use.  (1)  Give 
much  thought  to  the  construction  of  plans.  Habituate 
the  mind  to  skeletonizing.  Organize  thoughts  on  a 
text  into  a  skeleton,  and  then  hang  the  skeleton  up  in 
a  text- book. 

(2)  Take  up  sermons  now  and  then  ;  analyze  them. 
Study  the  best  models, — their  themes,  methods  of 
treatment,  ends  aimed  at.  See  whether  the  plan  can 
anywhere  have  improvement,  compare  sermons  one 
with  another  by  different  authors,  yet  on  the  same 
subject. 

(3)  Have  a  classified  text-book,  and  jot  down  in  it 
all  texts  that  make  their  impress  and  arrest  attention 
as  God's  Word  is  read ;  and  all  texts  that  are  flashed 
to  the  mind  in  meditation :  suggestive  texts,  that  seem 
laden  with  new  riches  as  they  go  flying  by.  If  the 
text-book  is  not  within  reach,  use  a  piece  of  paper,  an 


298  The  Sermon 

old  envelope, — anything,  to  make  it  sure  that  the 
thought  and  its  treatment  will  not  be  lost.  These 
texts  that  are  brought  down,  as  it  were,  "o?i  the  vnng  " 
— that  flash  unbidden  to  the  view,  and  grow  luminous 
on  the  instant,  are  almost  like  inspirations ;  and  ser- 
monizing on  them  will  be  like  the  sweep  of  the  eagle, 
cleaving  the  air  with  his  strong  pinions. 

(4)  Negatively :  Beware  of  hooTcs  of  skeletons^ 
called  "  Pulpit  Helps."  They  are  pulpit  hindrances  ; 
snares  of  the  devil.  They  may  tide  the  preacher  over 
a  present  difficulty — they  may  back  him  across  a 
stream  which  he  is  too  lazy  to  swim,  or  too  heavy 
with  the  things  of  this  world  to  fly  over,  but  the  fires 
of  homiletic  enthusiasm  cannot  be  fed  with  them.  As 
well  think  of  rousing  the  passions  with  the  proposi- 
tions of  Euclid,  or  of  heating  an  oven  with  snowballs. 

Sermon  plans  may  be  studied,  and  should  be  studied, 
as  a  matter  of  course ;  just  as  sermons  should  be 
studied :  as  suggestive,  illustrative,  helpful,  revealing 
many  a  secret  of  pulpit  effectiveness.  But  to  transfer 
them  bodily  to  one's  pulpit  without  credit,  is,  in  prin- 
ciple, as  immoral  as  to  appropriate  entire  sermons  that 
way.     Each  is  alike  a  deception  and  a  fraud. 

Beware,  therefore,  of  these  so-called  "  Pulpit  Helps." 
Avoid  them,  pass  not  by  them,  turn  from  them  and 
pass  away.  For  "  they  sleep  not  except  they  have 
done  mischief " ;  and  they  can  hardly  rest  on  the 
library  shelves  of  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  without 
causing  "  some  to  fall." 

The  preacher  should  make  his  own  sermon  plans — 
and  make  them  often,  over  and  above  the  weekly  use 
of  them.  And  the  fruit  of  this  repeated  process  will 
be  a  homiletic  bias  of  incalculable  value. 


Its  Ideal  "Constants"  299 

III.  Another  of  the  "constants,"  that  must  have 
heed  in  any  growing  ministry,  is  the  constant  cultiva- 
tion of  familiarity  with  the  sources  of  materials  to  be 
used  in  preaching.  And  these  sources  are  the  Bible, 
other  books,  and  living  men. 

{a)  First,  and  preeminently,  the  Bible.  Familiarity 
with  this,  if  with  nothing  else.  Familiarity  with  this 
even,  if  need  be,  at  the  expense  of  all  else.  Any  com- 
panion or  pursuit  that  charms  away  from  this — any 
study  that  lures  our  feet  to  other  paths  of  knowledge 
from  which  we  come  back  reluctantly  to  the  study 
of  God's  Word,  were  better  unknown.  At  whatever 
cost,  the  man  of  God  should  let  the  science  or  the 
literature  or  the  learning  go,  that  would  keep  him 
ignorant  of  the  Word  of  God. 

(1)  Why  should  the  Bible  have  such  preeminence 
as  a  study  ?  For  the  all-sufficient  reason  that  this 
Word  is  to  be  the  foundation  and  essential  substance 
of  all  preaching.  And  both  the  matter  of  it  and  the 
spirit  of  it  should  therefore  enter  into  the  very  tex- 
ture of  the  sermon.  This  is  not  interlarding  the  ser- 
mon with  textual  citations.  The  sermon  may  be 
studded  and  starred  with  texts  of  Scripture,  and  yet 
be  unbiblical.  The  shower  of  texts  may  simply  come 
from  a  concordance.  But  judicious  quotations  are 
certainly  to  be  coui mended.  They  serve  to  clinch  an 
argument,  and  make  profound  impression.  A  clear 
ringing,  unchallengeable  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord^^  is 
often  the  end  of  controversy. 

(2)  With  what  spirit  should  the  Bible  be  studied  ? 
Alike  with  the  true  sjnrit  of  scholarship  and  the 

true  spirit  of  devotion  *  as  a  book  of  sacred  literature 
and  as  a  book  of  divine  authority.     He  makes  a  griev- 


300  The  Sermon 

ous  mistake  who  thinks  it  for  the  heart  only,  and  not 
for  the  head.  As  an  intellectual  preparation  for  the 
intellectual  work  of  the  ministry,  its  habitual  and 
careful  study  is  indispensable.  But  he  who  uses  it 
for  the  head  only,  and  not  for  the  heart,  makes  a  far 
more  grievous  mistake.  To  neglect  it  as  a  daily 
manual  of  devotion  is  positively  fatal. 

The  students  of  its  mysteries  will  be  sorely  tempted 
with  a  lust  of  brain  and  a  pride  of  intellect, — tempted 
with  a  subtlety  and  pressure  of  seductive  power  it 
will  be  hard  to  resist — to  leave  these  fields  of  inspira- 
tion and  wander  elsewhere  in  quest  of  facts,  illustra- 
tions, arguments  and  principles  with  which  to  dignify 
and  grace  their  pulpit  speech.  But  they  must  see  to 
it  with  relentless  watch  and  care  that  nothing  takes 
them  so  far  or  so  effectually  away  from  God's  Word, 
that  they  do  not  joyfully  return  to  it  day  hy  day,  to 
read  it  not  only,  but  to  give  it  some  of  their  best  and 
most  painstaking  study. 

It  should  appear  in  their  preaching  that  they  are 
not  only  familiar  with  the  Scriptural  system  of  doc- 
trine, but  that  they  are  coming  to  an  ever-increasing 
knowledge  of  its  authorities,  illustrations,  histories, 
phraseology  and  spirit ;  so  that  their  discourse,  in  all 
its  length  and  breadth,  shall  be  more  and  more  ex- 
hibitive  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  so  that  divine  au- 
thority shall  everywhere  be  stamped  upon  it  as  an 
unmistakable  seal. 

Alexander  thus  tersely  gives  his  matured  advice : 
"  Cut  off  superfluous  studies.  Come  back  to  the  Bible. 
This  rings  in  my  ears  as  years  go  on.  Consider  all 
past  studies  as  so  much  discipline  to  fit  you  for  this 
great  study.     Make  Scripture  the  interpreter  of  Scrip- 


Its  Ideal  "Constants"  301 

ture."  *  This  eminent  divine  and  accomplished  scholar 
had  a  great  ambition  early  in  life  to  be  great  in  clas- 
sical acquisition.  And  his  attainments  were  unusual. 
But  his  riper  judgment  made  all  this  but  stubble  and 
dross  in  comparison  with  the  Bible. 

(3)     By  what  method  should  the  Bible  be  studied  ? 

(a)  Study  the  text  itself,  verse  by  verse.  Not 
commentaries  so  much,  though  they  are  to  be  con- 
sulted and  compared  as  accredited  helps  in  exegesis. 
But  study  the  text  itself,  in  translation  and  in  the 
original,  thoroughly,  critically.  Dip  into  the  deep 
things  of  God.  Dip  deeper  and  deeper.  There  are 
depths  everywhere  that  never  discover  their  full 
riches  to  the  superficial  seeker.  Pore  over  the  Word. 
Mine  for  the  hid  treasure.  Take  single  verses^  and 
grasp  them,  grapple  with  them,  till  they  yield  their 
secrets.  Pay  most  careful  heed  to  the  nexus  of  the 
passage,  so  as  to  be  sure  of  the  local  colouring.^ 

{h)  Eead  entire  books  of  the  Bible  at  one  sitting : 
especially  the  Epistles.  Go  over  the  ground  again 
and  again.  Long  trains  of  thought,  logical  connec- 
tions, sweeps  and  drifts  and  pervading  unities  will 
thus  disclose  themselves. 

Here  are  the  materials  for  preaching — and  the 
best  materials.  The  preacher  must  know  them,  and 
grow  to  ever-increasing  familiarity  with  them,  or 
he  cannot  preach  the  message  given  him  of  God. 

(<?)  Other  hoolcs.  But  the  Bible  is  not  the  only 
source  of  materials.  There  are  other  books  whose  en- 
riching stores  must  be  at  the  preacher's  command. 

^"Thoughts  on  Preaching,"  p.    56,    J.    W.    Alexander;    Phelps' 
"  Theory  of  Preaching,"  pp.  216-219. 
2  Prof.  J.  M.  Gray's  **  Synthetic  Bible  Study  ;  "  an  excellent  help. 


302  The  Sermon 

(1)  First,  books  on  the  Bible  and  drawn  from  it. 
Commentaries  and  treatises  and  fruits  of  exegetical 
study.  These  are  stocked  to  the  full  with  Bible  lore_ 
— every  page  often  bearing  the  ripest  fruits  of  the 
best  scholarship  of  the  world's  master  minds.  These 
must  be  studied.  The  Bible  is  the  original  fountain, 
and  these  are  only  issues  from  it.  But  they  have 
been  drawn  from  the  wells  of  inspiration  by  men  who 
knew  how  to  reach  down  far  and  go  deep.  To  say 
that  "  original  research "  must  dispense  with  these 
processes  and  these  results,  is  to  make  a  fetish  of  a 
phrase,  and  to  require  the  students  of  God's  Word  to 
do  what  the  students  in  any  other  field  would  count 
an  egregious  folly,  viz.,  to  pursue  their  investigations 
as  if  there  had  never  before  been  an  investigator. 
What  progress  could  there  be  in  knowledge,  human 
or  divine,  along  that  road  ! 

(2)  Secondly,  books  of  philosophy,  history,  science, 
art,  literature,  in  all  its  branches,  are  a  wide  and  open 
field. 

Philosojyhy :  not  to  preach  it,  but  for  discipline  and 
method,  to  help  one  the  better  to  preach  the  philos- 
ophy of  God  in  the  Gospel ;  and  to  help  make  ac- 
curate the  constructive  tendency  of  which  we  have 
spoken. 

(3)  Psychology  :  that  we  may  know  what  we  are ; 
and  knowing  what  we  are,  may  know  what  other  men 
are,  and  how  we  may  best  reach  them  with  God's 
truth. 

(4)  History  :  for  illustration  and  proof.  God  is 
writing  history,  and  every  page  of  it  must  confirm 
the  pages  of  His  Holy  Word.  "  History  is  philosophy 
teaching  by  example,"  it  has  been  said.     Nay,  more. 


Its  Ideal  "Constants"  303 

It  is  God,  in  the  march  of  providence,  illustrating  His 
truth. 

(5)  Science  :  true  science  is  full  of  God  :  is  "  packed 
with  confirmation  strong  as  proof  from  Holy  Writ," 
that  He  is  in  His  world,  its  builder  and  maker. 

In  fact,  materials  are  furnished  from  every  depart- 
ment of  human  knowledge.  And  the  most  diversi- 
fied knowledge  can  be,  and  will  be,  made  tributary 
to  the  pulpit,  just  as  the  preacher  understands  the  art 
of  transmuting  these  common  metals  into  gold.^  But 
he  should  dare  always  to  be  ignorant  of  many  books, 
that  he  may  thoroughly  know  some  books :  and, 
first  of  all,  and  more  than  all,  his  Bible.  Other 
books  only  as  they  shall  make  him  a  better  exegete 
of  the  Book. 

{d)  Living  men.  Here  also  are  to  be  found  rich 
and  varied  materials,  contributive  to  pulpit  efficiency. 
Next  to  a  knowledge  of  God's  Word,  what  can  help 
a  preacher  so  much  as  a  knowledge  of  the  human 
nature  that  is  before  him  every  Sabbath,  thinking, 
feeling,  wondering,  hungering,  yearning,  doubting, 
hating  ?  "  Know  thyself."  But  know  others  also. 
Psychology  is  important  here.  But  mix  with  men. 
Be  observant.  Get  at  their  dispositions.  Discover 
their  prejudices  and  needs.  Learn  what  they  are 
thinking  about.  Do  not  leave  humanity  outside  the 
study,  or  at  the  foot  of  the  pulpit  steps.  Let  its  wants 
set  back  into  the  sermon,  and  determine  the  sermon's 
bent.  Touch,  with  the  touch  of  personal  presence  and 
companionship,  its  great  throbbing  heart.  A  man 
shut  up  forever  in  his  study  is  a  monk  in  a  cloister — 

^  For  a  fine  illustration  of  this  combination,  see  "The  Ascent  Through 
Christ,"  by  E,  Griffith  Jones. 


304  The  Sermon 

barring  his  clothes.  Gather  materials  from  out  among 
men  everywhere — from  their  lives,  their  characters, 
their  business,  their  pleasures  ;  from  their  thoughts 
and  hopes  and  fears,  as  these  find  expression.  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  once  said,  "  A  minister  who  walks  down 
a  whole  street  and  sees  nobody — who  only  looks  in- 
side of  himself — is  but  half  a  minister."  This  may  be 
an  overstatement,  but  it  has  truth  at  the  bottom  of 
it.  Surely,  if  we  would  do  any  wise  soul-winning, 
we  must  know  the  way  of  talking  to  men,  and  coming 
into  sympathy  with  them.  And  in  order  to  this  we 
must  know  men. 

lY.  Another  ''  constant "  in  sermonic  construction 
is  the  constant  presence  of  a  lofty  standard  of  sermon- 
izing. 

The  preacher  must  set  and  keep  his  model  sermon 
far  before  him  and  above  him  always.  Then  let  him 
point  his  arrow  towards  that  sun;  and  though  the 
arrow  fall  short  of  it,  it  will  fly  that  way. 

The  standard  of  sermonizing  cannot  possibly  be  too 
high.     As  reasons  for  this  high  standard  : 

Consider  first,  the  peculiar  character  of  the  times. 
Once  the  pulpit  was  a  kind  of  popular  educator, 
preacher,  teacher,  printing-press,  in  one.  The  most 
that  great  bodies  in  the  community  learned  they  got 
from  the  pulpit.  It  is  not  so  now.  The  pulpit  cannot 
rely  on  the  information  it  gives,  for  its  place  of 
power.  Other  enginery  thunders  at  its  work  of  dif- 
fusing knowledge,  with  a  celerity,  and  sweep  and  reach 
of  power  no  ministry  can  possibly  vie.  Other  profes- 
sions are  now  abreast  of  the  clerical  in  all  knowledges. 
Society  is  intensely  active.  Men  think  quickly,  sharply, 
complexly.    There  are  varied  and  complex  forces  be- 


Its  Ideal  "Constants"  305 

hind  them  and  surrounding  them  that  make  them  so 
think.  Into  the  midst  of  this  whirl  and  hum  must 
now  be  thrown — one  day  in  the  week — the  sermon. 

Consider,  secondly,  tlie  work  a  sermon  is  to  do.  It  is 
to  arrest  these  thronging  activities,  stay  the  stress  and 
press  of  these  underlying  and  out-pushing  forces,  make 
men  pause  and  think,  get  hold  of  them,  spiritualize 
their  carnalities .  that  have  been  moved  upon  all  the 
week,  bring  divine  and  eternal  realities  to  bear  down 
upon  them,  and  get  such  a  leverage  that  their  souls 
shall  be  lifted  away  from  everything  mean  and  sordid, 
and  shall  be  transformed  by  other  and  better  presences 
than  have  thronged  about  them  and  often  possessed 
them  in  the  weekly  whirl  of  business  and  social 
life. 

"  Thirty  minutes  to  raise  the  dead  in  "  !  as  Euskin 
puts  it. 

Once  understand  this,  and  a  man's  whole  soul  will 
go  out  into  his  sermon  every  week,  and  into  the  effort 
to  make  it  all  it  ought  to  be  as  a  word  of  eternal  life 
and  death. 

The  danger  lies  in  the  temptation  to  be  satisfied  with 
inferior  homiletic  preparation  for  the  pulpit.  There  is 
need  of  being  kept  toned  up  to  constant  effort  at  im- 
provement. There  is  need  of  the  constant  presence  of 
a  high  ideal.  Let  the  standard  be  always  set  furlongs 
forward  of  all  actual  achievement.  It  will  serve  as  an 
incitement  and  inspiration.  "  Now  I  am  growing  old," 
said  Thorwaldsen,  "  for  I  am  satisfied  with  this  work 
which  I  have  completed."  Men  do  not  grow  old  while 
the  stir  and  call  of  a  noble  and  yet  unrealized  ideal  is 
in  their  hearts. 

But  consider,  thirdly,  apostolic  example.     It  is  there 


306  The  Sermon 

on  record,  for  each  man  who  preaches,  to  strive  after 
and  imitate. 

Paul's  standard  of  preaching  was  high.  He  at- 
tempted nothing  in  an  off-hand,  careless  way,  as  if  the 
work  were  easy,  and  his  conception  of  it  something 
that  his  abilities  could  easily  meet.  How  he  struggles 
with  the  impotency  of  language  to  express  himself. 
"  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things,"  he  cries.  His 
work  was  ever  above  him.  "  It  exhausted  and  mocked 
the  mean  sufficiencies  of  human  resource.  It  scorched 
and  consumed  him  like  an  altar  fire." 

Two  cautionary  words  must  close  this  discussion. 

(1)  The  sermonic  standard  should  not  be  one  of 
simple  excellency  of  speech — not  that  which  is  to  be 
reached  by  the  mere  sentence  maker.  God  forbid  that 
a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  should  aim  at  anything  like 
that !  Let  Yinet's  weighty  words  be  a  perpetual  guide 
and  warning  here.  "  I  affirm,"  he  sa3^s,  ''that  the 
desire  of  speaking  well,  the  literary  point  of  view,  just 
in  proportion  as  it  has  ascendancy  over  a  minister, 
degrades  his  ministry.  I  affirm  that  the  preacher  is 
not,  in  the  highest  view,  a  man  of  literature.  I  affirm 
that  there  is  a  seductive  intoxication  in  the  use  of 
speech,  which  should  be  feared.  ...  To  avoid 
this  evil,  a  sure  way  is  to  hold  Art  in  contempt.  But 
God  has  not  made  our  way  so  easy.  .  .  .  It  is 
between  the  idolatry  of  Art  and  the  contempt  of  Art, 
that  God  has  required  us  to  walk.  Neither  an 
anathema  on  Art,  nor  Art  for  Art's  sake ;  but  Art  for 
God's  sake,  is  what  we  insist  upon." 

And  this  must  be  the  insistence  of  every  man  of  God 
who  preaches.  He  will  strike  this  golden  mien,  and 
be  kept  from  idolizing  his  tools  (which  are  his  ser- 


Its  Ideal  "Constants"  307 

mons),  if  abidingly  and  vividly  conscious  of  the  work 
they  are  to  do ;  and  that  they  are  nothing  but  sound- 
ing brass  and  tinkling  cymbal  save  as  they  are  de- 
signed and  fitted  to  do  that  work — which  is  reaching 
and  saving  men. 

(2)  The  second  cautionary  word  is  this :  The  vital 
thing,  whether  in  preparation  for  the  ministry,  or  in 
the  actual  work  of  the  ministry,  is  not  the  number  of 
sermons  one  makes,  but  the  kind  they  are,  and  the  work 
they  are  fitted  to  do.  Just  as  it  is  not  so  much  how 
many  times  we  pray,  as  what  our  praying  does  for  us. 

Therefore,  let  not  the  preacher  be  ambitious  to  pile 
up  manuscripts,  either  on  his  way  to  the  ministry  or 
while  in  the  ministry.  It  is  far  better  to  have  few 
sermons  of  the  right  quality,  and  the  ability,  from 
study  and  discipline,  to  make  them,  than  to  have  many 
sermons  written  in  the  vanity  of  a  foolish  rapidity,  as 
if  they  were  productions  that  could  be  rattled  off  at 
any  hour  on  short  notice  by  a  mere  intellectual 
machine.  Remember  the  old  fable :  "  One — hxit  a 
lion  "  !     Set  the  standard  high.     Then  work  up  to  it. 

Here  then  are  the  four  ideal  "  constants "  in  the 
study  and  practice  of  the  homiletic  discipline ;  or  the 
divine  art  of  preaching  the  Gospel.  Let  us  once  more 
group  them,  and  in  grouping  them,  see  how  they  make 
some  things  impossible.  These  indispensable  and 
peerless  "  constants  "  are  : 

The  constant  cultivation  of  a  more  and  more  vivid 
and  abiding  sense  of  the  divine  realities  of  the  gospel 
message. 

The  constant  cultivation  of  the  homiletic  bias. 

The  constant  cultivation  of  familiarity  with  the 
sources  of  materials. 


308  The  Sermon 

And  the  constant  presence  of  a  lofty  standard  of 
sermonizing. 

See  now,  as  we  look  these  "  constants  "  in  the  face, 
how  they  make  some  things  impossible. 

(1)  They  make  it  impossible  that  a  minister  should 
grow  old  lefore  his  time.  Nature  has  indeed  set  limits 
to  efficient  age.  But,  far  within  those  limits,  ministers 
are  sometimes  charged  with  outliving  their  usefulness, 
preaching  old  sermons,  living  in  the  past,  lacking  in 
adaptation.  But  a  minister  in  the  constant  cultivation 
of  what  we  have  here  named  would  make  such  a 
charge  ridiculous. 

(2)  They  make  it  impossible  that  a  minister  should 
ever  exhaust  his  stock.  Under  these  "  constants "  he 
would  be  forever  replenishing  his  stock. 

(3)  They  make  it  impossible  that  a  minister  should 
ever  be  out  of  date.  How  could  he  be  a  constant 
student  of  the  Bihle,  of  other  hooks  and  of  living  men^ 
and  ever  become  ''  a  back  number  "  in  the  ministry  of 
the  Word  of  God  ? 

(4)  They  make  it  impossible  that  a  minister  should 
ever  he  afraid.  It  is  the  ahsence  of  these  "  constants," 
and  not  the  presence  and  use  of  them,  that  makes  a 
compromising  and  a  cowardly  ministry. 


XX 

ITS  IDEAL  "IMMEDIATES" 


SYLLABUS 

The  ideal  "  immediates  "  are  the  steps  to  get  ready  for  next  Sun- 
day.    For  the  best  preparation,  every  preacher  must  take  these  steps. 
I.     He  must  get  a  distinct  conception  of  the  theme  to  be  treated, 
i.  e.,  he  must  know  what  he  is  going  to  talk  about. 

(a)     The  theme  should  include  what  he  is  going  to  say,  and 

exclude  everything  else. 
(6)     The  text  is  not  ordinarily  the  theme, 
(c)     The  theme  should  have  an  exact  expression  in  words. 
II.     A  distinct  conception  of  the  object  to  be  accomplished,  or  an  an- 
swer to  the  question,  Why  am  I  going  to  talk  about  this  theme  ? 
Four  possible  generic  objects  :  (1)  To  instruct  the  understand- 
ing.    (2)  To  convince  the  judgment.  (3)  To  exclude  the  sensi- 
bility.    (4)  To  persuade  the  will. 

There  are  many  specific  objects,  and  one  of  these  must  often 
be  determined  on,  for  the  best  results.  Sorrow,  shame,  fear, 
etc.,  dissuading  passions — anger,  hope,  love,  gratitude,  etc., 
persuading  passions.  Sermons  will  often  be  completely 
changed  by  the  particular  feeling  the  preacher  would  arouse. 
Here  is  the  core  of  effective  sermonizing. 
Consider  the  advantages. 

(1)  Without  aim  it  is  impossible  to  do  one's  best. 

(2)  A    distinct  specific  object  would  go  far  to  shape 

the  plan  of  treatment. 

(3)  It  is  essential  to  the  truest  unity. 

III.  A  distinct  conception  of  the  plan,  or  an  answer  to  the  question. 
How  am  I  going  to  talk  about  this  theme  so  as  to  accomplish 
this  object?  Objection  to  plans;  that  the  thought  lacks 
spontaneity.  Plan  binds.  But  learn  from  the  general — the 
architect — the  engineer.  They  never  work  without  a  plan. 
A  lot  of  thought  is  not  a  sermon,  any  more  than  a  heap  of 
stones  is  an  arch,  or  a  house,  or  a  barn,  or  a  steeple. 
Plan  leads  to  three  things  : 


(1)  A  clear  knowledge  of  what  belongs  to  the  subject. 

(2)  An  adjustment  of  parts  according  to  their  relative 

importance. 

(3)  Natural    and   orderly    succession,  i.  e.,    serruonic 

unity. 
Two  observations,  (a)     The     plan     may    be    modified    if 
found  defective,     (b)  Plan  should  vary  with  the  theme 
and  object. 
IV.     The  collecting  and  arranging  of  materials. 

(1)  What  materials  shall  be  used  ?    The  best  material  is  what 

the  preacher  has  made  his  own  by  past  reading  and 
study.      The  next  best  is  from  immediate  study. 

(2)  How  to  be  gathered  ? 

(a)     Make  the  earliest  possible  selection  of  theme. 
(6)     Refer  to  parallel  passages  of  Scripture. 

(c)  Make  brief  notes  of  the  fruit  of  your  own  meditation. 

(d)  If  not  material  enough,  read  judiciously — chew — as- 

similate.    Do  not  cram. 

(e)  Borrow  outright  if  necessary,  but  let  it  be  known  you 

are  borrowing. 
(/)     In  quoting  poetry,  drop  the  stale  and  useless  prelude, 
"  As  the  poet  says." 
V.     Quickened  personal  interest  and  sympathy.     Think  and  think. 
Pray  and  pray. 
VI.     The  actual  writing. 

(a)     With    audience    before    you,    is    the    fundamental 

specialty. 
(6)     If  written  rapidly,  reiiew. 
(c)     Don't  make  your  work  j?aic^- work. 


XX 

ITS  IDEAL  ''IMMEDIATES" 

WE  have  considered  the  ideal  "  constants," 
involving  sermonic  preparation  for  all  the 
Sundays.  We  are  now  to  consider  the 
ideal "  iramediates,"  or  the  steps  to  be  taken  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  next  Sunday. 

Conceding  the  utmost  variety  of  mental  characteris- 
tics and  making  all  allowance  for  differences  of  con- 
stitutional temperament,  are  there  not  certain  requisites 
indispensable  to  the  best  weekly  preparation  for  the 
pulpit  ?  Is  there  not  a  theory  of  preparation  of  uni- 
versal application,  which  every  man,  whatever  his 
tastes  or  habits  or  idiosyncrasies,  may  adopt  and  carry 
out,  with  increasing  profit  to  himself  and  to  his 
hearers  ?  We  hold  there  is  such  a  theory.  We  hold 
there  are  steps  to  be  taken  in  the  construction  of  a 
sermon  that  form  the  best  method  of  preparation, 
and  that  are  essential  to  the  best  results. 

I.  One  indispensable  step  in  preparation  is  a  clear, 
distinct  conception  of  the  theme  to  be  treated  ;  or  an 
answer  to  the  question.  What  am  I  going  to  talk 
about  ? 

Until  the  preacher  gets  this  question  definitely  an- 
swered, he  should  go  no  farther.  He  must  have  a 
theme  and  should  know  precisely  what  it  is.  And 
that  he  may  know  that  he  knows,  he  should  put  it  in 
words.     If  he  can't  put  it  in  words,  discussion  is  hope- 

313 


314  The  Sermon 

less.  If  his  themB  is  in  a  haze,  everything  else  will 
be :  his  introduction,  his  arrangement,  his  proof,  his 
object,  his  hearers,  himself  !  It  must  be  vividly  out- 
lined in  his  thought,  and  given  a  precise  verbal  form. 

{a)  The  theme  should  not  simply  cover  ov  include 
what  he  is  to  sa3\     It  should  exclude  everything  else. 

Repentance,  e.  g.,  is  not  the  theme  of  a  discourse 
which  is  designed  to  show  the  necessity  of  repentance, 
if  one  would  not  perish.  It  does  not  fix  a  boundary 
to  the  subsequent  discussion.  And  a  theme  must  do 
that  if  it  is  to  tell  the  truth. 

Q))  The  text,  as  a  rule,  is  not  the  theme.  It  simply 
contains  it.  The  theme  lies  in  the  text,  and  should 
usually  be  its  very  core.  But  the  text  and  the  theme 
are  by  no  means  synonymous.  When  the  preacher 
has  his  text,  he  is  commonly  only  on  the  road  to  his 
theme.  Take  the  text  (Heb.  2:3):  "How  shall  we 
escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  a  salvation  "  ;  and  three 
or  four  themes  may  be  got  from  it  according  to  the 
emphasis  given  the  leading  words.  "Mere  neglect  of 
salvation  is  certain  ruin  "  would  be  a  theme  where  the 
emphasis  would  fall  on  the  word  "  neglect."  Melville 
has  a  great  sermon  on  this  text,  taking  for  his  theme, 
"  The  greatness  of  salvation  an  argument  for  the  peril 
of  its  neglect,"  which  is  the  precise  thought  of  the 
inspired  writer. 

(c)  The  theme  should  have  exact  expression  in 
words.  The  preacher  should  not  be  satisfied  with  a 
general  idea.  Let  him  take  time  to  be  definite.  It 
will  often  require  time,  and  that  too  when  the  preacher 
may  think  he  ought  to  be  dashing  on  to  the  construc- 
tion of  the  sermon,  which  must  he  residy,  nolens  vole^is, 
for  the  swiftly  approaching  Sabbath.     Let  the  theme 


Its  Ideal  "  Immediates  "  315 

be  stripped  of  everything  redundant.  It  is  the 
epitome  of  the  discourse — the  germ,  out  of  which  the 
whole  structure  is  to  grow.  It  should  be  concise — ex- 
plicit ;  phrased  with  painstaking  care.  One  may  be 
perfectly  sure  the  thought  is  vague,  so  long  as  he  can- 
not give  it  exact  expression.  Put  it  in  words.  Put 
it  in  words.  Time  taken,  no  matter  under  what  pres- 
sure or  call  from  other  quarters — in  getting  a  clear, 
distinct  conception  of  the  subject,  is  time  saved.  In 
each  preparation  for  the  pulpit,  the  first  words  written 
should  invariably  be  the  exact  wording  of  the  theme :  or 
an  answer  to  the  question.  What  am  I  to  talk  about  ? 

II.  A  second  indispensable  step  in  immediate  prep- 
aration is  a  clear,  distinct  conception  of  the  object 
to  he  accomplished,  or,  an  answer  to  the  question. 
Why  am  I  going  to  talk  about  this  theme  ?  What  is 
my  purpose  in  the  use  of  it  ?  If  I  have  a  distinct  end 
in  view,  what  is  it  ? 

There  are  only  four  possible,  immediate,  generic  ob- 
jects the  preacher  can  have  in  view,  viz.,  to  instruct  the 
understanding,  to  convince  the  judgment,  to  excite  the 
sensibilities,  to  persuade  the  will.  He  may  have  any 
one  of  these  before  him,  or  more  than  one,  or  all. 
One  may  be  chief  and  the  rest  subordinate.  Instruc- 
tion may  sometimes  demand  supreme  place.  The 
nature  of  the  theme,  its  setting  in  God's  Word,  the 
condition  of  the  hearers,  may  make  it  imperative  that 
instruction  shall  be  the  leading  object  of  discourse. 
But  instruction  may  be  required  only  in  a  very 
modified  degree,  or  not  at  all.  Conviction  may  be 
chief — or  excitation.  Invariably,  and  often  domi- 
nantly,  persuasion  should  be  distinctly  aimed  at. 

Under  these  four  generic  objects,  instruction,  convic- 


316  The  Sermon 

tion,  excitation,  persuasion,  there  may  be  many  specific 
objects.  And  some  one  of  these  more  specific  objects  it 
may  be  the  purpose  of  the  preacher  to  secure. 

For  example ;  suppose  conviction  to  be  the  object. 
But  conviction  of  what  ?  Of  a  truth  of  God  ?  of 
duty  ?  or  of  sin  ?  And  then  again.  What  particular 
truth  of  God  ?  "What  specific  duty  ?  What  kind  of 
sin  ?  The  discussion  of  the  theme  will  be  changed 
completely  by  the  determination  of  any  one  of  these 
several  objects.  The  preacher  will  not  produce  con- 
viction of  a  truth  of  God  by  the  same  road  that  he 
will  produce  conviction  of  duty,  or  of  sin.  He  will 
convince  of  truth  by  logical  process,  by  arraying  the 
Scriptural  and  other  evidence,  appealing  chiefly  if  not 
wholly  to  the  understanding.  He  will  convince  of 
duty  or  of  sin,  by  storming  the  conscience,  by  appeal 
to  the  feelings,  by  an  exhibition  of  God's  claims. 

So  with  excitation  as  an  object.  There  should  be  a 
further  limitation  of  object  to  the  particular  feeling  or 
passion  to  be  excited.  Sorrow,  fear,  shame,  humility, 
are  the  dissuading  passions.  Anger,  hope,  love,  grati- 
tude, emulation,  ambition,  are  the  more  persuading 
passions.  While  joy,  esteem,  compassion,  are  what 
may  be  termed  the  intermediate. 

Now  what  is  it,  that  the  theme  has  been  chosen 
to  arouse  ?  What  does  the  preacher  in  handling  it 
most  wish  to  arouse  ?  The  sermon  may  be  totally 
changed  in  its  tone  and  material  and  structure,  as  one 
or  another  of  these  specific  objects  is  decided  on. 

And  in  every  case  the  object  is  to  be  considered  in 
relation  to  that  final  object  of  every  sermon,  the 
determination  of  the  will  of  the  hearer  Godward, 

For  example :     Suppose  the  text  to  be,  "  The  soul 


Its  Ideal  "  Immediate s  "  317 

that  sinneth  it  shall  die  "  (Ezek.  18  :  4).  And  suppose 
the  theme  drawn  from  the  text  is,  '^  The  doom  of  the 
finally  impenitent." 

Now,  if  the  preacher's  object  were,  to  excite /(^ar,  he 
might  have  the  sermon  show  the  irreversibleness  and 
awfulness  of  the  doom. 

If  his  object  were  to  excite  sorrow^  he  might  have 
the  sermon  show  how  the  sinner  tramples  on  God's 
heart;  and  cite  in  illustration  Christ's  tears  and  heart- 
broken cries  over  Jerusalem. 

If  his  object  were  to  rouse  the  conscience^  he  might 
have  the  sermon  show  the  terribleness  of  sin  as  against 
the  Sovereign  God. 

Or,  if  his  object  were  to  excite  hope,  he  might  take 
the  awfulness  of  the  doom,  the  flagrancy  of  the  sin, 
the  holiness  of  God,  and  show  how  they  are  all 
magnified  in  the  wondrous  way  of  pardon,  by  which 
the  chief  of  sinners  may  die  in  Christ  and  live  forever. 

But  in  every  preparation  for  the  pulpit,  a  distinct 
conception  should  be  had  of  some  definite  object  to  be 
accomplished.  Of  all  the  sinners  from  lack  of  pur- 
pose, 2i  purposeless  puljpit  is  the  chief. 

The  advantages  of  having  a  definite  object : 

(1)  Without  aim  it  is  impossible  to  do  one'^s  hest  at 
any  toil.  It  is  as  true  of  brain-work  as  it  is  of  hand- 
work. It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  get  absorbed  in 
vague,  indefinite  effort.  Unity  in  aim  is  the  very  life 
of  invention.  Having  no  object  in  view,  the  mind  has 
no  spring — no  stirring  incentive.  There  is  nothing  to 
marshal  its  energies.  This-one-thing-I-do  inspira- 
tion is  wanting.  There  is  no  focus-constraining  con- 
vergence. 

(2)  Again ;  this  distinct  conception  of  the  object 


318  The  Sermon 

will  go  far  to  shape  the  jplan  of  treatment.  The 
preacher  is  now  after  a  plan  that  will  do  a  certain 
thing.  He  knows  what  he  wants.  Hence  the  greater 
likelihood  of  his  getting  it,  and  the  greater  facility  in 
the  process.  Having  determined  on  his  object,  much 
is  at  once  decided  that  otherwise  would  be  left  in  un- 
certainty. The  kind  of  plan,  the  form  it  shall  take, 
the  amount  of  explication  or  proof  or  appeal  it  shall 
contain,  will  be  largely  determined  by  the  object 
aimed  at,  and  this  will  help  immensely  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  plan.  So  much  is  gained  in  knowing 
just  what  one  wishes  to  accomplish. 

Suppose  men  made  new  tools  as  some  men  make 
new  sermons,  with  no  idea  of  the  definite  thing  to  be 
done  with  them, — how  would  they  go  to  work?  A 
man  making  a  tool  must  know  what  the  tool  is  for. 
When  he  knows  that,  the  plan  of  it  is  often  half- 
formed.  Sermons  are  tools.  But  imagine  a  man  in  a 
workshop  busy  with  some  device  quite  beyond  or- 
dinary conjecture.  A  friend  drops  in  and  asks, 
*'  What  are  you  about,  man  ? "  And  the  workman 
replies,  "  Oh,  I'm  trying  to  make  a  took"  "But  what 
kind  of  a  tool  ? "  the  friend  asks.  "  Well,  I  don't 
quite  know,"  answers  the  workman;  "haven't  de- 
cided. But  I  thought  I'd  try  my  hand  at  a  new  tool." 
At  this  the  friend  fairly  bursts  with  laughter.  And 
the  workman,  quite  nettled  at  his  friend's  jocoseness, 
says,  "  See  here,  I  don't  mind  telling  you.  I  want  a 
tool  that  will  mahe  a  hole.'''*  "  But  what  kind  of  a 
hole  ?  "  "  Oh,  I  haven't  bothered  my  head  about  that. 
I  simply  meant  to  enlarge  my  hit  of  tools !  "  And 
whether  round  hole  or  square  hole  or  triangular  hole, 
or  big  hole,  or  little  hole,  was  to  him  of  no  consequence. 


Its  Ideal  '' Immediates"  319 

He  had  a  gimlet  and  an  auger  and  an  awl  and  a  chisel, 
but  he  was  after  another  tool  that  would  make  a  hole  ! 
Query  :  Is  not  this  the  way  sermons  are  sometimes 
made?  The  minister  wants  another  sermon,  and  he 
simply  goes  to  work  and  makes  it,  simply  to  add  to 
his  kit  of  tools,  with  no  distinct,  definite,  commanding 
purpose  whatever.  God  may  bless  such  a  sermon,  but 
only  as  He  blesses  "  the  weak  things  to  confound  the 
mighty,  and  things  that  are  not  to  bring  to  nought 
things  that  are,  that  no  flesh  may  glory  in  His  pres- 
ence." 

(3)  Another  advantage  in  having  a  definite  object 
is  this  :     It  is  essential  to  the  truest  unity. 

Unity  is  the  very  life  of  discourse.  Nothing  can 
atone  for  the  want  of  it.  Everything  must  be  sub- 
ordinated and  made  subservient  to  this,  as  we  shall 
see  in  subsequent  discussion. 

But  singleness  of  subject  will  not  give  unity.  Cer- 
tainly not  in  its  highest  and  best  form.  There  must 
be  an  object  also — a  terminus  ad  quern  as  well  as  a 
terminus  a  quo^  to  which  the  mind  shall  be  rigidly 
held,  and  which  shall  be  steadily  pursued  throughout 
the  discourse.  It  is  here,  perhaps  more  than  anywhere 
else,  that  young  sermon  makers  are  apt  to  fail.  But, 
alas,  we  all  know  there  are  homiletic  sinners  who  have 
grown  old  at  this  bad  business. 

They  take  a  subject.  They  are  to  make  a  sermon 
to  cover  twenty  or  thirty  pages  of  manuscript.  They 
give  themselves  to  writing,  with  no  clear,  distinct, 
commanding  object  in  view,  that  they  are  bent  on  ac- 
complishing. The  discourse  will  have  truth  in  it,  im- 
portant truth — it  may  sparkle  with  brilliant  flashes 
of  genius — nevertheless,  what  is  it  after  all  but  an  ac- 


320  The  Sermon 

cumulation  of  dead  words,  "  cemented  together  by  the 
lifeless  rules  of  grammar,"  if  there  is  no  single  govern- 
ing purpose  running  down  through  it,  and  dominating 
the  entire  discussion.  The  focal  point  to  which  all  the 
lines  of  the  sermon  converge,  is  absolutely  vital  to  the 
highest  sermonic  efficiency. 

III.  A  third  requisite  in  immediate  preparation  for 
the  pulpit,  is  the pla?i.  With  a  subject  and  an  object 
distinctly  determined,  the  question  that  now  faces  the 
preacher  is :  How  am  I  to  treat  this  subject  so  as  to 
accomplish  this  object?  This  means  jjlan — plan  of 
some  kind — that  shall  work  everything  up  into  one 
compact  organism,  that  shall  set  the  parts  together  in 
climacteric  order,  that  shall  present  a  natural  and 
orderly  succession,  exclude  irrelevant  material,  and 
make  the  different  lines  of  the  discourse  grow  hot  as 
they  converge  to  one  burning  focus — this  is  without 
doubt  essential  to  the  most  effective  sermonizing. 
Just  in  proportion  as  the  plan  of  treatment  is  clear, 
comprehensive,  and  cumulative,  will  the  sermon  be 
impressive,  and  adapted  to  its  end. 

Labour  at  this  point  is  commonly  imperative.  Now 
and  then  a  plan  will  be  flashed  to  the  mind  as  by  in- 
spiration. But  the  mind  does  not  ordinarily  work 
with  this  electric  swiftness.  Often  it  will  be  only 
after  the  severest  study  that  an  outline  will  be  reached 
at  all  satisfactory.  There  will  be  struggles  with  ob- 
scurity and  confusion.  The  subject  may  be  enveloped 
in  haze,  and  the  thought  chaotic — leading  to  half  truths, 
side  truths,  irrelevant  truths.  There  will  be  seeming^ 
and  sometimes  real^  want  of  harmony,  want  of  unity, 
want  of  logical  connection.  But  labour — persistent, 
thoughtful,  hard  labour,  will  bring  order  out  of  the 


Its  Ideal  "  Immediates  "  321 

chaos — and  it  will  always  ])ay.  Labour  here  is  well 
spent,  however  severe — and  time  here  is  well  employed, 
however  long — until  the  skeleton  is  given  its  proper 
shape. 

Doubtless  the  preacher  will  sometimes  be  tempted 
to  forego  the  plan,  because  of  the  difficulty  of  organiz- 
ing it.  Both  the  subject  and  the  materials  will  so 
seem  to  baffle  effort  to  make  them  take  order  and 
shape  in  a  well  constructed  plan,  that  the  preacher 
may  be  inclined  to  go  on  without  a  plan.  Shall  this 
be  done  ?  Never  !  Think  ;  study  ;  organize.  Leave 
the  work  awhile,  and  return  to  it.  These  little  "  rests," 
or  changes  of  occupation,  are  wonderful  helps  to 
clarity  of  vision.  The  preacher  returns  to  his  task, 
and  often  finds  that  what  he  left  a  fog-bank,  is  now 
shot  through  and  through  with  sunlight. 

The  objection  urged  against  a  preconceived  plan  is 
this  :  A  fixed  plan  is  a  restraint — it  cramps  and  limits 
the  mind's  movements,  and  trammels  thought.  Alex- 
ander says,  "  To  write  by  a  plan  is,  in  some  degree,  to 
bind  the  thought  to  a  given  track.  He  is  most  likely 
to  arrive  at  what  is  original  and  new,  who,  like  the 
river, '  wanders  at  his  own  sweet  will.'  "  ^  And  he  lays 
it  down  as  a  canon  of  composition  :  "  In  writing  or 
sjpealcing^  throw  off  all  restraint!^^  ^ 

He  betrays  the  secret  of  this  preference,  however, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  the  folly  of  it,  in  an  item  labelled 
sermonizing,  thus  :  "  I  have  just  finished  a  sermon.  I 
am  not  pleased.  I  was  hampered  throughout  by  a  pre- 
concerted skeleton.  Thus  it  w^orked.  Things  would 
arise  in  ray  mind,  and  flow  into  my  pen  just  at  the 
right  place  (!)  but  I  could  not  use  them,  hecause  they 

1  "Thoughts  on  Preaching,"  p.  45,  ?  Jlid.,  p.  32, 


322  The  Sermon 

belonged  to  another  head  (/)  The  result  was,  the  articu- 
lation was  broken,  the  flow  was  interrupted,  the  work 
became  a  Mosaic."  ^  Illustrating  thus  his  further  word, 
that  "  the  current  is  often  stopped  at  the  very  mo- 
ment when  it  begins  to  gush."  ^ 

The  best  answer  to  Alexander  is  Alexander.  How 
could  things  rise  in  his  mind  and  flow  into  his  pen  "  at 
the  right  place  "  if  they  "  belonged  to  another  head^  If 
they  belonged  to  another  head  they  were  in  the  wrong 
place.  If  they  were  in  the  right  place,  they  could  not 
belong  to  another  head. 

Is  a  crowd  an  army  ?  Is  a  heap  of  stones  an  arch  ? 
Is  a  lot  of  ideas  a  sermon  ?  Other  things  being  equal, 
a  discourse  is  powerful  in  proportion  to  the  order 
reigning  in  it.  The  place  where  you  put  a  thought  or 
thing,  makes  a  mighty  difference  in  the  effectiveness 
of  use.  Suppose  a  man  had  an  arm  where  one  of  his 
legs  ought  to  be,  and  the  leg  was  socketed  at  his 
shoulder-blade — what  kind  of  a  man  would  he  be  for 
doing  things  ?  Ideas  in  speech  must  be  so  arranged 
that  they  shall  be  best  fitted  to  do  things.  This 
means  plan.  An  architect  will  never  start  to  build 
without  a  plan  of  the  building.  A  civil  engineer  sur- 
veys his  route  before  he  authorizes  construction.  A 
general  studies  the  situation,  and  lays  out  a  plan  of 
campaign,  before  his  army  goes  afield.  Should  a  min- 
ister ever  prepare  and  preach  a  sermon  without  a  ser- 
mon plan  ? 

A  discourse  without  plan  may  produce  effects.  So 
may  a  lawless  mob.  But  face  that  mob  with  disci- 
plined policemen  or  troops,  one-tenth  its  number,  and 
there  is  no  more  the  mob  can  do.     A  sermon  with  a 

*  "  Thoughts  on  Preaching, "  p.  29.  2  m^^  p^  3^^ 


Its  Ideal  "  Immediates  "  323 

mob  of  ideas  may  have  some  power.  But  that  same 
sermon,  with  those  same  ideas  transformed  from  a 
mob  into  a  disciplined,  unified  battalion  of  thoughts, 
arranged  in  the  interests  of  climax^  will  h^  fitted  at 
least  to  do  great  things  for  God.  To  have  all  the 
power  of  which  discourse  is  capable,  it  must  have  ad- 
justment, proportion,  a  governing  purpose,  an  end — 
all  its  parts  mutually  aiding  and  sustaining  one 
another. 

P rearrangement  leads  to  natural  and  orderly  suc- 
cession :  i.  e.y  to  organize  sermonic  unity ;  leads  to 
clearer  knowledge  of  what  really  belongs  to  the  sub- 
ject ;  leads  to  an  adjustment  of  parts  according  to 
their  relative  importance. 

The  lack  of  prearrangement,  the  disuse  of  skeleton- 
izing leads  to  a  rambling  and  diffusive  style ;  the  law 
of  association  is  the  only  law:  and  we  all  know  what 
will-o'-the-wisps  that  law  will  start  an  undisciplined 
mind  in  chase  of. 

Observation  {a)  The  plan  need  not  be  binding  in 
the  entire  composition  of  the  sermon.  It  may  be  seen 
in  the  progress  of  the  work,  from  increased  familiarity 
with  the  subject,  and  in  the  glow  and  inspiration  that 
may  come  from  contact  and  insight,  that  the  end  in 
view — the  determined  object — may  be  better  accom- 
plished by  some  modification  or  readjustment.  Let 
the  modification  be  freely  made. 

Observation  (h)  Plans  should  vary  with  the  subject. 
There  should  be  no  procrustean  bed  for  plans.  But 
their  construction  should  invariably  precede  the  con- 
struction of  the  sermon. 

lY.  A  fourth  requisite  in  immediate  preparation 
for  the  pulpit  is  the  collection  and  arrangement  of 


324  The  Sermon 

sermon  materials.  This  involves  answers  to  two 
questions  :  What  materials  shall  be  used  ?  and  by  what 
method  shall  they  be  gathered  and  arranged  ? 

(1)     What  materials  shall  be  used  ? 

Clearly  such  as  will  give  the  sermon  plan  or  skele- 
ton an  appropriate  body.  In  other  words,  that  which 
will  best  unfold  the  theme  and  accomplish  the  object. 

The  absolutely  best  material  for  the  sermon  is 
unquestionably  that  which  the  preacher  has  already 
made  his  own  by  past  reading  and  study,  it  having  been 
so  taken  into  his  mind  as  to  become  the  very  chyle  and 
blood  and  fibre  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  man. 
This  inwrought  and  digested  material  is  beyond  a 
doubt  the  fittest  for  use,  for  it  is  the  man's  own.  He 
has  made  it  so,  not  by  memorizing,  but  by  those  men- 
tal processes  of  absorption  and  assimilation  which 
make  the  thoughts  we  feed  on  as  veritably  our  own 
as  the  food  we  eat. 

Happy  the  man  who  has  stored  away  by  reading 
and  study,  and  observation,  treasures  of  literature  and 
art,  principles  of  philosophy  and  ethics,  facts  of  history 
and  biography — and,  above  all,  incidents,  precepts, 
parables,  personal  histories,  principles,  truths  and  facts 
from  God's  Word,  with  which  to  clarify  and  fortify 
and  illustrate  his  theme — and  who  has  the  facultv  of 
marshalling  them  to  his  service,  when  occasion  calls 
for  their  use. 

But  few  men  can  thus  trust  wholly  to  their  past 
for  materials  with  which  to  give  body  to  discourse. 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  often  prepared  his  Sunday  even- 
ing sermon  Sunday  afternoon.  But  this  would  have 
been  impossible  if  he  had  not  formed  the  habit  of 
regular  study  and  continual  observation.    He  went 


Its  Ideal  "  Immediates  '*  325 

through  the  world  with  his  eyes  open.  He  himself 
says,  "  I  do  not  believe  that  I  ever  met  a  man  on  the 
street  that  I  did  not  get  from  him  some  element  for  a 
sermon.  I  never  see  anything  in  Nature  which  does 
not  work  towards  that  for  which  I  give  the  strength 
of  my  life.  The  material  for  my  sermons  is  all  the 
time  following  me.  I  am  tracing  out  analogies,  which 
I  afterwards  take  pains  to  verify,  to  see  whether  my 
views  of  certain  things  were  correct.  I  follow  them 
out  in  my  study,  and  see  how  such  things  are  taught 
by  others." 

This  capacity  of  resource  may  be  cultivated  by  every 
one.  Spurgeon  had  it  to  a  degree  somewhat  remark- 
able. He,  too,  went  through  the  world  with  his  eyes 
open,  always  gathering  material  for  his  pulpit.  Here 
is  the  advantage  of  careful  reading  and  of  ever-widen- 
ing research.  Especially  here  is  the  immense  profit 
of  the  constant  critical  and  devout  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

But  the  stock  on  hand  is  by  no  means  always  equal 
to  the  demand.  The  thoroughly  digested  and  assimi- 
lated material  may  fall  short  of  meeting  the  weekly 
need. 

Hence  the  lalance  of  material  must  be  got  by 
reading  and  study  and  observation  on  the  week  in 
which  the  sermon  is  to  he  written. 

(2)  A  few  suggestions  that  may  be  helpful  in  gath- 
ering and  arranging  material  for  sermonic  use : 

{a)  Make  the  earliest  possible  selection  of  the  theme, 
the  very  first  of  the  week,  so  that  every  suggestion, 
fact,  illustration  that  may  be  met  with,  as  bearing  on 
the  subject,  may  be  put  to  use. 

(5)     Refer  to  parallel  passages  of  Scripture,  and  crit- 


326  The  Sermon 

ically  examine  and  compare  these.  Scripture  is  often 
the  best  interpreter  of  Scripture.  What  God  has  said 
upon  the  subject  must  be  helpful  in  understanding 
and  enforcing  it. 

(c)  Put  upon  a  loose  slip  of  paper  brief  notes  or 
catch- words  of  your  own  thoughts  on  the  subject, 
together  with  such  illustrations  and  practical  con- 
clusions as  may  occur  to  you  from  past  reading  or 
observation. 

{d)  If  this  supply  is  not  rich  enough,  read  with 
judicious  care  other  authors  on  the  same  subject,  or 
on  a  subject  closely  akin  to  it. 

All  this,  however,  with  one  rigid  and  conscientious 
purpose  scrupulously  adhered  to :  to  wit — to  profit 
from  this  help  only  and  solely  hy  letting  the  matter 
digest  in  the  mind^  and  then  to  write  freely  with  no 
further  use  whatever  of  the  authors  consulted,  and  in 
entire  forgetfulness  of  their  phraseology  and  method. 
Unless  the  matter  is  made  one's  own  by  reflection 
and  thorough  digestion,  the  user  must  either  give 
explicit  credit  for  its  source,  or  be  guilty  of  using 
"  stolen  goods."  Provided  one  digests  while  he  reads, 
turning  the  thought  over  and  over  in  his  own  mind, 
he  may  read  with  profit  even  in  immediate  prepara- 
tion for  the  Sabbath.  But  to  cram  before  writing — to 
make  the  mind  '*  a  mere  warehouse  for  other  men's 
thoughts,"  is  most  pernicious. 

{e)  Borrow,  outright,  if  there  is  occasion  for  it.  If 
you  know  of  something  belonging  to  another,  that  is 
forceful  and  impressive — borrow  boldly :  but  let  it 
be  known  to  your  hearers  that  the  thing  borrowed  is 
not  manufactured  at  your  own  mill. 

(y)    In  quoting,  quote  nothing  that  will  not  give 


Its  Ideal  "  Immediates  "  327 

weight  to  the  discourse,  either  in  itself,  or  in  view  of  its 
authorship.  And  in  quoting  poetry,  give  the  rhyme 
without  that  stale  and  useless  prelude,  "As  the  poet 
says."  Take  it  for  granted  the  people  know  poetry 
when  they  hear  it  and  know  that  you  are  not  a  poet. 

{g)  Just  one  more  suggestion.  Arrange  the  mate- 
rials according  to  the  plan,  under  appropriate  heads. 
Some  will  go  under  one  head.  Some  under  another 
head.  Some  under  no  head.  In  this  latter  case,  reso- 
lutely set  the  material  aside.  Use  may  be  found  for 
it  on  some  other  occasion.  There  is  absolutely  no  use 
for  it  here. 

y.  A  fifth  requisite  in  immediate  preparation  for 
the  pulpit  is  a  quichened  personal  interest — a  lively^ 
living  sympathy. 

Somehow  this  must  be  secured,  or  the  highest  suc- 
cess in  preaching  is  impossible.  The  truth  preached 
must  not  only  get  into  the  preacher's  head,  but  into 
his  heart — and  be  a  living  experience,  a  glowing 
enthusiasm,  an  intense  reality,  or  preaching  will  be 
largely  a  dead  letter.  The  preparation  of  the  preacher 
must  go  on  side  by  side  with  the  preparation  of  the 
sermon.  "  Interest  is  the  law,  the  spring,  the  life  of 
eloquence."  Adolph  Monod  makes  the  eloquence  of 
the  pulpit  depend  on  "inward  conception  and  feel- 
ing." Alexander  says,  "  The  great  reason  why  we 
have  so  little  good  preaching  is  that  we  have  so  little 
piety."  ^  "Build  a  big  fire  in  the  pulpit,"  as  Tve  have 
already  said,  was  Moody's  way  of  heating  a  cold 
church.  But  hear  the  flaming  apostle  of  feeling  who 
so  long  swayed  the  hearts  of  his  Brooklyn  church. 
"Hundreds  and  hundreds  of  times  as  I  rose  to  pray 

^  "  Thoughts  on  Preaching,"  p.  9. 


328  The  Sermon 

and  glanced  at  the  congregation,  I  could  not  keep 
back  the  tears.  There  came  to  my  mind  such  a  sense 
of  their  wants — there  were  so  many  hidden  sorrows — 
so  many  doubts,  so  many  perils — there  were  such  his- 
tories— not  world  histories,  but  eternal  world  histories 
.  .  .  and  it  seems  as  if  God  permitted  me  to  lay 
my  hand  on  the  very  Tree  of  Life,  and  to  shake  down 
from  it  both  leaves  and  fruit  for  the  healing  of  my 
people."  ^  Such  living,  personal  sympathy  in  the  pulpit, 
makes  a  mighty  pulpit.  Power  is  along  no  other  road 
so  often  and  so  surely. 

YI.  There  is  a  sixth  requisite  in  preparation  for 
the  pulpit,  provided  the  preaching  is  to  be  from  a 
manuscript — and  this  is  the  actual  writing.  Three 
suggestions  here  may  not  be  without  value. 

ia)  The  writing  should  be  done  with  the  audience 
mentally  hefore  the  preacher.  This  is  the  fundamental 
specialty  of  all  public  discourse.  It  is  for  the  ear — 
not  for  the  eye.  It  is  therefore  to  be  caught  "  on  the 
wing."  It  is  a  bird  of  passage.  It  must  be  under- 
stood as  it  falls  from  the  preacher's  lips,  or  it  will  not 
be  understood  at  all.  It  is  not  a  text-book,  to  be 
studied  and  studied,  until  its  meaning  is  perfectly  ap- 
parent. The  preacher  therefore  must  dare  to  be 
plain.  His  meaning  must  look  the  audience  in  the 
face. 

(J)  Whether  the  sermon  should  be  written  rapidly, 
or  with  painstaking  care,  will  depend  upon  the  tem- 
perament of  the  writer.  But  if  one  "  writes  with 
fury,"  he  should  "  correct  with  phlegm."  Robert 
Hall  prepared  with  great  care.  John  Foster's  sen- 
tences sometimes  cost  him  hours  of  labour.  Albert 
^  Beeoher's  **  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  p.  47. 


its  Ideal  "  Immediates "  329 

Barnes  wrote  rapidly,  and  when  he  once  began  the 
sermon,  the  scratch  of  his  pen  could  be  heard  with 
scarce  an  interruption  until  the  sermonic  work  of  the 
day  was  ended. 

(<?)  The  writing  should  not  he  patchworh.  Con- 
tinuity is  so  vital  a  matter,  that  certain  hours  should 
be  kept  sacred  to  the  preparation  of  the  sermon.  Fre- 
quent interruptions  are  the  open  door  to  sermonic 
crazy-quilts. 

Here,  then,  are  the  ideal  "  immediates  "  in  sermon- 
making — the  subject,  the  object,  the  plan,  the  gathering 
and  arranging  of  materials,  a  quickened  personal  in- 
terest and  sympathy,  and  the  actual  writing.  These 
are  the  "  what,"  the  "  why,"  the  "  how,"  the  kind  of 
material,  ihQ personal  equation,  and  the  verbal  form  to 
be  considered  in  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  blessed 
God.  Are  they  not  vital  to  an  ideal  ministry  ?  Must 
not  each  one  of  these  steps  be  taken  in  any  ideal  prep- 
aration for  next  Sunday  ? 


XXI 

ITS  IDEAL  "CARDINALS'^ 


SYLLABUS 

Theae  are  qualities  of  inner  structure,  not  of  verbal  form ;  they  are 
unity,  order,  and  movement.  They  enter  into  the  very  life  and  soul  of 
sacred  discourse. 

U7iity 

1.  Its  nature.  It  is  born  of  diversity — one  out  of  many.  It  is 
not  the  mere  contact  of  connected  truths.  It  is  consistent  with  great 
variety. 

2.  Its  necessity.  Founded  in  the  very  nature  of  rational  discourse. 
Discourse  is  one — not  many.  Essential  in  painting  and  architecture. 
A  deeper  necessity  in  the  sermon. 

3.  Its  demands :  (a)  singleness  of  theme  ;  (6)  of  object ;  (c)  and 
the  use  of  that  which  will  tend  both  to  develop  the  theme  and  accom- 
plish the  object. 

4.  Its  advantages :  (a)  stimulates  inventive  faculty ;  (6)  secures 
definite  impression  ;   (c)    tends  to  cumulative  force  and  effect. 

5.  Violations:  (a)  needless  explanation  ;  (6)  digression,  that 
does  not  give  increased  momentum ;  (c)  all  ideas,  though  growing 
out  of  the  subject,  if  they  do  not  contribute  to  the  end  in  view. 

Order 

1.    Its  necessity.    2.  Its  rfemant/s,(l)  comprehensively,  (2)  specifically ; 
(a)  in  narration  ;  (b)  in  description  ;  (c)  in  division  ;  (d)  in  argument ; 
(e)   in  meeting  objections;  (/)   in  pressing  motives. 
3.     Its  advantages — To  the  preacher  :    (a)   his  mind  grows  orderly  ; 

(&)  grows  fruitful. 
To  the  sermon  :  (a)  makes  it  intelligible;  (6)  gives 

it  power. 
To  the  hearer :  (a)  increased  pleasure  ;  (6)  increased 
facility  of  remembrance;  (c) 
increased  profit. 

Movement 

1.  Its  nature.  2.  Its  demands.  3.  Its  importance.  4.  Its 
hindrances,  (a)  Isolation  of  ideas  as  they  first  come  to  the  mind. 
(6)  Prolixity;  excess  of  treatment,     (c)     Digressions. 

Unity,  order,   movement,   each  is  great ;   no   one  is  the  greatest. 

Power  is  the  crowning  attribute — and  power,  under  God,  lies  only 
this  way. 


XXI 

ITS  IDEAL  ^'CAEDINALS" 

THESE  are  qualities  of  inner  structure  rather 
than  of  outward  verbal  form.  They  pertain 
to  the  sermon  as  a  whole.  They  are  capital 
or  *'  cardinal,"  because  they  enter  into  the  very  life 
and  soul  of  sacred  discourse  and,  humanly  speaking, 
are  decisive  of  results  in  the  public  proclamation  of 
the  Word  of  God. 

These  inner  vital  qualities  are  %inity^  order  and 
movement.  And  we  venture  to  affirm  that  apart  from 
divine  agency  there  is  nothing  in  the  entire  field  of 
homiletic  discussion  that  would  so  contribute  to  pul- 
pit efficiency,  as  the  constant  and  masterful  command 
of  these  three  structural  qualities  of  sacred  discourse. 

Unity 

1.  Its  nature.  Unity  is  born  of  diversity.  It  is  one 
out  of  many.  It  results  from  union.  It  is  not  single- 
ness or  sameness  of  idea,  but  combination  of  ideas  for 
convergence  and  single  effect.  It  is  not  the  mere  con- 
tact of  connected  truths.  All  the  great  truths  of 
Scripture  are  connected.  Repentance  implies  faith, 
and  faith  implies  regeneration,  and  regeneration  im- 
plies original  sin.  But  the  connection  of  these  truths 
would  not  justify  their  treatment  in  any  one  sermon. 
Connection  at  the  source  alone  is  not  the  highest 
unity — not  sermonic  unity.     But   connection   at  the 

333 


234  The  Sermon 

terminus  as  well.  Both  divergence  and  convergence. 
The  star  scatters  rays.  The  lens  gathers  them  to  a  burn- 
ing focus.  The  two  represent  a  discourse  marked  by 
true  unity. 

Unity,  therefore,  does  not  consist  in  a  collection  of 
good  remarks,  though  all  drawn  from  one  subject. 
They  may  lead  away  from  the  subject,  and  so  lead  the 
hearer  away.  To  conserve  and  promote  unity,  they 
must  be  convergent,  and  so  cumulative  of  momentum 
and  power. 

On  the  other  hand,  true  unity  is  consistent  with 
great  variety,  and  even  contrast.  A  single  effect  may 
often  be  greatly  enhanced,  by  combining  things  most 
diverse.  For  example:  in  dwelling  upon  the  impor- 
tance of  saving  a  soul,  what  increasing  and  immeasur- 
able sense  of  its  importance  would  be  gained  by 
dwelling  upon  such  diverse  considerations  as  the 
anguish  of  a  soul  unsaved,  the  joy  of  all  heaven  over 
one  soul  saved,  and  the  passion  of  the  cross  it  be- 
hooved Christ  to  suffer  that  one  soul  might  be  saved. 
Unity  is  not  marred  but  heightened  by  these  wide 
contrasts. 

2.  The  necessity  of  unity.  It  is  founded  in  the 
very  nature  of  rational  discourse.  Discourse  is  one — 
not  many.  It  is  a  flow.  In  unity  therefore  lies  its 
very  life.  Its  ideas,  however  varied,  are  vitally  related. 
They  are  fused,  and  run  like  molten  ore.  They  con- 
stitute, or  are  born  of,  one  theme.  A  true  discourse 
never  has  themes.  Unity  is  demanded  by  the  very 
nature  of  mind.  It  belongs  to  the  poem  and  the 
drama.  It  is  essential  in  painting,  in  architecture, 
even  in  landscape  gardening.  It  is  a  deeper  necessity 
in  the  sermon. 


Its  Ideal  "Cardinals"  335 

3.  The  demands  of  unity.  They  are  three,  and 
they  are  imperative. 

(ci)  Singleness  of  theme.  This  lies  at  the  foundation 
of  all  true  unity.  It  is  the  first  and  broadest  condi- 
tion, one  theme — and  every  thought,  every  illustra- 
tion, every  thing  in  the  sermon,  subservient  to  it. 

(5)  Singleness  of  object.  All  rational  discourse 
has  an  object.  It  is  an  address.  It  has  respect  to 
others.  It  is  mind  to  mind  for  some  purpose.  A 
single  leading  object  must  be  fixed  upon,  and  steadily 
pursued  throughout,  in  order  to  unity.  The  true 
sermon  will  always  have  an  end — a  purpose  outside  of 
itself — to  be  accomplished.  Just  as  this  is  single, 
specific  and  controlling,  will  the  discourse  have  unity. 
Lines  will  all  converge.     Ideas  will  all  bear  one  way. 

{6)  Another  demand  of  unity,  and  growing  out  of 
singleness  of  theme  and  object,  is  the  use  only  of  that 
which  will  tend  both  to  develop  the  theme  and  accomplish 
the  object. 

Nothing  is  to  be  admitted  into  the  sermon  that  is 
not  made  rigidly  subordinate  and  subservient  to  this 
twofold  work.  The  thoughts  and  illustrations  are  to 
be  narrowed  to  the  single  theme  and  still  further 
narrowed  to  the  uses  to  which  the  theme  is  put  in 
securing  some  single  leading  object. 

This  demand  of  unity  will  be  best  secured  by  writing! 
out  both  the  subject  and  the  object  before  proceeding! 
to  write  the  sermon  ;  and  then  by  challenging  eachV 
thought  that  knocks  for  admittance  to  the  sermon, 
and  asking  whether  it  consists  with  the  chosen  theme 
and  end,  and  can  in  any  way  throw  light  on  the  one, 
or    promote  the  other.     If  "  Nay  " — then  no  admit- 
tance on  any  term$  whatever. 


33^  The  Sermon 

4.     Advantages  of  unity. 

{a)  It  stimulates  the  inventive  faculty  of  the 
preacher.  Compelling  not  only  a  subject  but  an  ob- 
ject, it  gives  the  mind  a  spring  and  impulse  in  toil. 
For  it  is  not  in  the  nature  of  mind  to  put  forth  its  best 
activities  without  aim.  To  think  without  a  purpose  is  to 
think  feebly.  To  wander  at  one's  own  sweet  will,  un- 
trammelled by  the  demands  of  unity,  may  seem  de- 
lightful and  suggestive  to  the  young  writer,  but  it  is 
the  sure  road  to  superficiality.  No  rich  ores  will  be- 
tray their  hiding-places  to  such  thinking.  Unity  of 
aim  reacts  upon  invention  and  arouses  it,  and  so  gives 
it  command  of  materials  that  would  otherwise  never 
heed  its  call,  or  reveal  themselves  to  its  search. 

(J)  Unity  secures  definiteness  of  impression.  Dis- 
connected thoughts  are  like  a  whirl  of  sparks.  They 
may  be  brilliant  and  beautiful ;  but  they  come  and  go 
leaving  no  distinct  impression.  Connected  thoughts 
— thoughts  that  are  fused  and  made  a  living  whole  by 
one  common  animating  purpose,  are  like  a  pointed 
tongue  of  flame. 

Disconnected  thoughts  are  like  dead  words  strung 
down  the  dictionary.  Connected  thoughts,  born  of 
one  theme  and  convergent  to  one  object,  are  like 
those  same  words  put  in  a  living  sentence.  The  im- 
pression from  the  string  of  words  is  confused  and 
vague.  The  impression  from  the  living  sentence  is 
clear  and  definite.  Yinet  says,  "  Attacked  by  a  crowd 
of  mutually  self-neutralizing  impressions,  we  are  made 
captive  by  none,  and  fixed  to  nothing." 

(c)  Unity  tends  to  cumulative  force  and  effect. 
It  leads  to  concentration,  blow  on  blow,  in  one  spot. 
Thus  a  wall  is  breached,  an  enemy's  line  broken,  a 


Its  Ideal  "Cardinals"  337 

cause  carried.  Tiius  is  discourse  made  effective.  It 
gathers  momentum  as  it  proceeds.  Each  succeeding 
thought  promotes  the  impression  of  its  predecessor — 
for  they  tend  the  same  way,  look  to  the  same  result, 
converge  to  one  point.  The  blows  all  have  one  aim, 
and  the  truth  goes  home  with  ever-cumulating  power. 

5.      Violations  of  unity. 

(a)  All  explanation  or  exposition  of  the  text  not 
necessary  to  bring  out  the  theme  and  lead  to  its  clear 
apprehension,  is  a  violation  of  unity. 

ip)  All  digression  that  does  not  turn  again  into  the 
main  stream  of  thought  and  give  it  increased  momen- 
tum, is  a  violation  of  unity. 

{c)  All  ideas  and  figures,  however  brilliant,  and 
though  they  grow  out  of  the  subject,  if  they  are 
divergent  from  the  one  dominant  purpose  and  end, 
are  violations  of  unity. 

Order 
1.  The  necessity  of  order  in  discourse. 
It  "  is  heaven's  first  law."  God  is  a  God  of  order, 
and  not  of  confusion.  His  works  and  ways  are  by 
method.  Order  is  the  handmaid  of  effectiveness. 
The  human  mind  as  by  instinct  demands  order,  and 
dreads  chaos.  The  apostle  says,  "  Let  all  things  be 
done  decently  and  in  order."  A  mass  of  unsightly 
material,  by  an  adjustment  of  order,  is  made  a  beauti- 
ful edifice.  A  rabble,  under  order's  law,  is  changed 
into  an  army.  The  different  parts  of  the  body  must 
have  their  true  place,  if  the  body  is  to  have  effectiveness 
and  symmetry.  Not  less  is  order  a  necessity  in  the 
sermon.  Yinet  goes  so  far  as  to  say,  '*  There  is  no 
discourse  without  it."     Certainly  the  preacher  who  has 


338  The  Sermon 

no  order  in  his  sermon,  is  flinging  to  the  wind  the  law 
of  adaptation. 

2.     The  demands  of  order. 

Comprehensively,  order  in  discourse  demands  of  the 
preacher  what  Horace  says  it  demands  of  the  poet, 
"that  he  just  now  say  what  ought  just  now  to  be 
said."  "  Ut  jam  nunc  dicat,  jam  nunc  debentia  dici." 
In  other  words,  that  every  part  of  the  discourse  take 
its  right  place,  as  the  result  of  judicious  arrangement. 

Specifically  :  {a)  Order  in  narration  demands  re- 
gard to  time.  Events  should  be  so  narrated  as  not  to 
mix  and  confuse  the  dates  of  their  occurrence. 

(5)  Order  in  description  demands  regard  to  affinity. 
Man,  for  example,  should  not  be  described  by 
mingling  confusedly  the  different  parts  of  his  nature, 
as  intelligent,  lymphatic,  social,  aesthetic,  bilious, 
logical. 

(c)  Order  in  division  demands  regard  to  relation 
— as  of  whole  and  part,  cause  and  effect,  antecedent 
and  consequent.  In  enumerating,  e.  g.,  as  divisions, 
the  evidences  of  true  godliness  in  Malachi  3:16.  The 
order  in  the  text  is  not  the  true  succession. 
f  {d)  Order  in  argument  demands  regard  to  three 
things.  (1)  Regard  to  the  different  classes  of  argu- 
ments. An  argument  from  experience  should  not 
be  thrust  in  between  two  speculative  arguments. 
Proofs  of  various  kinds  should  be  classified  and 
grouped,  as  internal,  external,  historic,  experimental : 

\and  not  be  hurled  at  random  in  promiscuous  and  con- 
fused mass. 

'  (2)  Regard  to  the  dependence  of  arguments  on 
one  another.  Sometimes  an  argument  presupposes 
another.     Then  it  should  always  follow. 


Its  Ideal  "Cardinals"  339 

Sometimes  one  argument  explains  another,  prepares*^ 
the  way  for  it,  throws  light  upon  it,  is  vital  to  its  best 
effect.  Then  it  should  always  precede.  Whether  an 
argument  goes  before,  or  follows  after  may  make 
just  the  difference  between  weakness  and  great 
weight,  e.  g.^  prove  the  antecedent  probability  of  a 
thing,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  or  on  general  prin- 
ciples, and  the  direct  proofs  will  then  come  in  with 
greatly  increased  and  more  conclusive  force.  Show 
cause  why  God  should  interpose  with  a  revelation, 
and  then  the  internal  evidence  of  the  divine  authentic- 
ity of  the  Scriptures  will  have  tenfold  weight.  ^ 

(3)  Kegard  to  the  state  of  mind  of  the  hearers.  I^ 
they  are  filled  with  skepticism,  a  relatively  weak  ar- 
gument at  the  outset  would  be  a  waste  of  breath.  Let 
the  best,  the  strongest  blow,  be  struck  first.  To  make 
the  final  impression  strong  in  such  a  case,  recapitulate, 
reversing  the  order,  and  thus  get  the  power  of  climax^ 

[e)  Order  in  meeting  objections  demands  regard 
to  their  application.  If  the  objection  applies  to  a 
certain  division  of  the  discourse,  it  should  be  met  on 
reaching  that  division.  If  the  objection  applies  to  the 
main  statement,  and  is  already  known  to  the  hearer, 
it  should  be  met  at  the  outset.  Otherwise,  the  hearer, 
having  the  objection  in  mind,  and  not  its  refutation, 
would  not  be  likely  to  listen  to  the  argument  without 
prejudice.  This  unanswered  objection  would  con- 
stantly recur  to  him,  and  prevent  the  argument  from 
having  its  full  weight.  If  it  be  deemed  best  to  defer 
the  answer  to  objections,  until  the  direct  positive 
proof  has  been  offered,  reference  should  be  made  to 
the  objections,  and  suspension  of  judgment  asked,  until 
they  are  fully  considered. 


340  The  Sermon 

{f)  Order  in  pressing  motives  demands  regard  to 
antecedent  knowledge  and  conviction  on  the  part  of  the 
hearers.  These  ground  all  motives  and  ajj^eals.  Men 
must  see  clearly  what  it  is  that  is  pressed  as  a  duty, 
and  they  must  be  convinced  that  it  is  a  dicty,  before 
they  are  urged  to  its  discharge.  The  most  affecting 
exhortations  are  a  waste  of  breath,  where  there  is  no 
sense  of  oughtness. 

3.     The  advantages  of  order. 

They  accrue  to  the  preacher,  to  the  sermon,  to  the 
hearer. 

Here  are  some  of  the  advantages  to  ihQ  preacher. 

(a)  His  mind  grows  orderly.  Methodizing  makes 
him  methodical.  Systematizing  makes  him  system- 
atic. He  is  cured  of  rambling.  And  digressions  at 
last  become  an  impossibility. 

(b)  His  mind  grows  fruitful.  Order  enriches.  It 
helps  memory  by  the  law  of  association.  The  sug- 
gestive faculty  becomes  fruitful  in  furnishing  materials. 
Contemplating  ideas  in  their  proper  connections  is  the 
sure  way  of  commanding  the  reserved  stores  of  mem- 
ory. He  will  discover  little,  who  knows  not  whither 
he  is  going  or  what  he  is  in  search  of. 

Here  are  some  of  the  advantages  to  the  sermon. 

{a)  It  makes  the  sermon  intelligible.  Perspicuity 
in  style  is  not  enough  to  give  clearness  to  dis- 
course. It  must  have  proper  arrangement.  The  suc- 
cessive remarks  may  be  clear  enough.  Each  idea  may 
be  readily  grasped  as  presented.  But  if  the  succes- 
sion is  confusing,  without  natural  order,  with  no  re- 
gard to  logical  and  oratorical  method,  the  total  im- 
pression will  be  that  of  an  indistinct  mass.  We  wonder 
sometimes  that  the  pews  take  in  so  little  of  the  ser- 


Its  Ideal  "Cardinals"  341 

mons — bear  so  little  understandingly.  But  when  we 
think  of  the  confusing,  blinding  sins  of  the  pulpit  against 
order,  the  wonder  suffers  an  immense  contraction. 

(5)  Order  gives  the  sermon  jpower.  An  arch  of 
stones  is  stronger  than  a  heap  of  stones.  A  built 
ship,  buttressed  and  ribbed,  beam  to  beam,  is  stronger 
than  the  loose  timbers.  So  ideas,  arranged  according 
to  the  laws  of  association  and  logic,  are  much  mightier 
than  when  thrown  out  in  a  disconnected,  illogical 
way.  Such  ideas  mutually  aid  and  sustain  one  an- 
other. Part  is  adjusted  to  part  for  the  best  effect. 
But  when  lacking  in  orderly  arrangement,  they  not 
only  give  each  other  no  support,  but  often  actually 
neutralize  each  other's  power.  They  are  not  tied  to- 
gether by  the  living  ligaments  of  a  pervasive  purpose. 
They  are  put  forward  without  method.  Ideas  are  de- 
ferred when  they  ought  to  be  treated.  They  are 
anticipated  and  partially  expanded  before  the  way  is 
prepared  for  them  to  have  their  full  effect.  They  are 
dropped  and  then  resumed.  They  are  thrust  into  the 
midst  of  others,  severing  a  close  and  needed  connec- 
tion. They  are  not  grouped,  marshalled,  compacted. 
There  is  advance  and  recession — no  coherence.  Noth- 
ing weakens  a  discourse  like  these  breaks,  uncertain- 
ties, returns,  digressions,  partial  presentations — these 
'^  many  almost s."^^ 

A  sermon  thus  constructed  may  have  power.  So 
may  a  mob.  But  how  a  mob  melts  away  before  a 
little  band  instinct  with  order,  moving  by  method  ! 

But  the  advantages  of  order  to  the  hearers  are  as 
marked  as  those  accruing  to  the  preacher  and  to  the 
sermon. 

{a)    Increased  pleasure  is  one  of  these  advantages. 


342  The  Sermon 

Order  makes  truth  more  beautiful.  Just  as  a  collec- 
tion of  precious  stones  is  made  more  beautiful,  when, 
by  the  magic  of  good  arrangement,  it  is  changed  into 
a  rich  mosaic.  And  the  mind  takes  pleasure  in  beauty  ; 
rejoices  in  it.  Confusion  is  distasteful.  Chaos  is  re- 
pulsive.    Order  is  pleasing. 

(b)  Another  and  a  great  advantage  to  the  hearer, 
is  facility  of  rememhrance.  Try  to  remember  fifty 
w^ords  with  no  connection — no  natural  succession. 
How  difiicult !  Now  wheel  those  same  words  into 
line  by  constructing  out  of  them  connected  and  living 
sentences  ;  and  how  easily  memory  masters  them. 

Mere  contiguity  is  of  little  service  in  recollection. 
But  one  idea  following  another  by  some  well-defined 
law  of  association  is  greatly  helpful.  Let  order  reign 
in  the  sermon — let  its  various  points  have  a  natural 
and  true  succession,  and  the  sermon  will  stick. 

Hence  comes  (c)  increased  profit.  Hearers  are  edi- 
fied, other  things  being  equal,  just  as  the  sermon  sticks. 
No  food  so  feeds  the  flock  as  that  which  is  distinctly 
remembered ;  which  the  mind  can  carry  away  from 
the  sanctuary  for  the  heart  to  feed  on,  afterwards. 
This  sometimes  makes  just  the  difference,  and  all  the 
difference,  between  failure  and  success  in  a  pastorate. 
/A  sermon  may  not  be  profound  or  brilliant.  But  it 
may  be,  and  should  be,  characterized  invariably  by 
order.  And  with  order  so  important,  it  is  an  inex- 
cusable sin  and  shame  for  any  preacher  to  make  ser- 
\  mons  without  it. 

Movement 

1.     Its  nature.     It  is  that  quality  by  which  the  ser- 
V  mon  bears  the  thought  onward  and  the  hearer  with  it. 


Its  Ideal  "Cardinals"  343 

It  compels  movement,  and  is  therefore  itself  move- 
ment. 

2.  Its  demands.  As  connected  with  discourse  it  ^ 
involves  both  continuity  and  progress.  Continuity  :^ 
the  movement  should  be  continuous ;  for  a  break 
means  suspension  and  a  pause.  Progress :  for  all 
true  discourse  has  an  end  in  view  ;  and  there  may  be 
movement  on  a  pivot — reasoning  in  a  circle — splutter 
in  a  puddle.  Movement  is  the  living  energy  of  the 
living  soul  poured  along  the  channels  of  speech  for  the 
attainment  of  some  definite  object.  It  is  the  quality 
that  makes  the  difference  between  a  river  and  a  stag- 
nant canal.  And  like  the  river's  movement,  it  is 
neither  always  at  the  same  rate,  nor  in  a  straight  line. 
Sometimes  there  are  obstructions  to  be  removed, 
necessary  digressions  to  be  made,  and  even  apparent 
recessions.  But  like  the  river,  whose  goal  is  the  sea, 
the  sermon  will  move  with  a  steady  constancy  towards 
its  end,  turning  aside  to  obviate  an  objection,  to  ex- 
plain a  difficulty,  to  summon  a  support,  only  to  reach 
the  goal  the  surer  and  the  sooner. 

3.  The  importance  of  movement.  Its  value  can 
hardly  be  overestimated.  It  is  the  attending  and 
animating  genius  of  climax.  No  great  effects  by  dis- 
course are  possible  without  it.  It  is  the  thing  that 
most  stirs  souls,  lifting  them  out  of  the  ruts  of  daily 
procedure,  changing  their  spiritual  plane,  exalting  and 
bettering  them.  It  has  characterized  all  immortal 
speech.  Horace  says  of  Homer,  "  Semper  ad  eventum 
festinat'''' — he  always  hastens  on  to  the  event.  Lord 
Brougham  says  of  Demosthenes,  "  He  is  never  found 
making  any  step,  in  any  direction,  which  does  not  ad- 
vance his  main  object,  and  lead  towards  the  conclusion 


344  The  Sermon 

to  which  he  is  striving  to  bring  his  hearers."  Beyond 
a  doubt,  he  only  is  the  true  orator  who  gives  his 
/hearers  the  exhilaration  of  a  forward  motion.  It  is 
the  steady,  unceasing  sweep  of  thought,  gathering 
force  as  it  proceeds,  until  it  is  a  mighty  torrent,  that 
constitutes  effective  speech,  that  takes  great  audiences 
off  their  feet,  melting  their  wills  into  one,  and  stirring 
\them  with  a  common  feeling  and  purpose. 

4.     The  hindrances  to  movement. 

{a)  The  isolation  and  independence  of  ideas  as  they 
first  come  to  the  mind  in  thinking  on  any  particular 
theme.  The  ideas  are  from  different  sources,  of  differ- 
ent kinds,  for  different  purposes.  While  they  remain 
thus,  they  make  oratorical  movement — a  constantly 
progressive  flow — impossible.  They  must  be  given  a 
connection,  a  continuity — they  must  be  welded  or 
fused.  Theremin  says,  "  As  they  first  present  them- 
selves they  are  hard,  brittle,  separate  particles ;  the 
mind  must  seize  them — and  by  grinding  them  inces- 
santly upon  each  other,  crush  them,  until  the  friction 
kindles  the  mass,  and  they  run  like  molten  ore." 

{b)  Prolixity  is  a  hindrance  to  movement.  This  is 
excess  of  treatment — undue  expansion,  turning  over 
and  over  the  same  idea.  Revolving  is  not  progressing. 
Care  should  be  taken  lest,  in  being  brief,  one  become 
obscure.  But  as  soon  as  the  thought  is  fully  and  fairly 
before  the  hearers,  it  is  time  for  the  preacher  to  leave 
it,  and  pass  on.  Every  word  after  that  is  a  sin  against 
movement.  It  is  continuing  to  explain  what  is  already 
clear.  It  is  pursuing  details  in  description  that  add 
nothing  to  the  effect.  It  is  making  men  forget  the 
object  of  an  illustration  in  a  too  great  expansion  and 
elaboration  of  the  illustration  itself.     The  steady  flow 


Its  Ideal  "Cardinals"  345 

of  discourse  is  retarded  and  checked  by  every  needless 
repetition,  by  wire-drawn  and  tedious  explanation,  by 
hammering  away  at  an  idea  after  it  is  once  fairly 
driven  home. 

To  avoid  this,  let  description  seize  and  present  only 
the  salient  points,  let  narrative  pass  from  incident  to 
incident  in  a  quick  succession,  let  instruction  add 
thought  to  thought,  let  argument  confirm  argument, 
each  tending  to  deeper  conviction,  and  let  the  preacher 
stop  when  he  is  done  !  Why  go  on  banking  the  river 
after  it  has  reached  the  sea  ! 

{c)  Digressions  are  a  hindrance  to  movement.  They 
compel  a  pause,  a  suspense  of  progress  in  the  true  path 
of  discussion,  and  a  turning  aside  for  the  consideration 
of  something  more  or  less  foreign  to  the  end  in  view. 
However  tempting  and  however  full  of  instruction, 
such  asides  should  be  left  for  a  subsequent  occasion. 
So  important  is  it  that  the  mind  of  the  hearer  should 
be  borne  along  from  point  to  point,  so  requisite  is  this 
to  the  best  oratorical  effect,  that  the  preacher  should 
regard  "every  thought,  every  word,  that  does  not 
bring  him  nearer  the  goal,  as  a  weakness,  a  fault — and 
cast  it  from  him." 

Unity,  order,  movement,  these  three ;  but  the 
greatest  of  these  is — well,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  They 
stand  side  by  side — the  three  cardinal  qualities  of  the\ 
sermon.  They  mutually  help  one  another.  Discourse 
without  them  is  shorn  of  half  its  power.  ISTo  one 
of  them  can  be  neglected  without  seriously  impairing 
efficiency.  Impression  may  be  made  without  them, 
but  by  no  means  the  highest  and  best.  Good  may  be 
done,  but  not  the  most  good.  It  will  pay  to  toil  for 
these  qualities.      And  toil  will  be  necessary.     Unity  ^ 


34^  The  Sermon 

and   order  and  movement  are  not  born.     They  are 

V  made.     To   have  a  single  purpose  dominate  through 

the  whole  length  of  the  sermon,  from  the  first  words 

of  the  introduction  to  the  final  appeal — to  have  order 

reign  throughout,  every  thought  and  illustration,  every 

incident  and  argument  marshalled  to  its  place — and  to 

have  a  constant  flow — a  steady  onward  progress  in  the 

sermon,    bearing   resistlessly  to   the  goal — hie  labor^ 

hoc  opus  est. 

^  But  power  is  the  attribute  crowning  all  a  minister's 

accomplishments  ;  and  power,  under  God,   lies  only 

this  way.     Is  it  not  worth  while,  therefore,  to  make 

every  sermon  with  scrupulous  regard  to  the  demands 

.    of  unity,  order,  and  movement  ? 


XXII 
ITS  IDEAL  TOPICS 


SYLLABUS 

Three  things  that  help  to  settle  this  question  of  topics — the  preach- 
er's office,  commission,  and  aim. 
I.  The  raw^e  of  topics,  (a)  Limited  by  the  Word  of  God.  (6)  Not 
every  text  of  Scripture  holds  a  proper  topic  for  public  dis- 
course, (c)  The  Scriptural  limit  excludes  all  secular  toiiics. 
{d)  Leaves  scant  room  for  controversial  topics,  (e)  Does  not 
leave  large  room  for  apologetics,  (f)  No  room  f or  ^At7oso2>/t- 
ical  topics  ;  but  room  for  philosophy,  (g)  Nature  of  preaching 
would  keep  out  philosophical  topics,  but  not  philosophy. 
II.  Variety  of  topics,  (a)  Regard  should  be  had  to  variety. 
(6)  Two  general  classes  of  topics ;  for  rescue  work,  and  construc- 
tion work,  (c)  More  minute  division — doctrinal,  ethical, 
biographical,  historical,  topics  of  Christian  socialism,  political 
topics,  topics  of  Christian  benevolence.  Duty  of  the  pastor  to 
present  these  topics.  Particular  method  to  be  left  to  the  in- 
dividual judgment. 

III.  The  proportions  in  which  these  various  topics  should  be  presented. 

Proportions  must  vary  according  to  local  conditions. 

IV.  3Ieihods  for  securing  varied  and  Biblical  proportion.       (a)  Keep 

a  classified  list.     (6)     Go  through  a  prescribed  course  between 
communions,     (c)     Have  regard  to  three  things :  system   of 
truth  ;  needs  of  flock  ;  personal  preference. 
Comprehensive  summary. 

1.  Proclaim  truth  rather  than  combat  error. 

2.  Be  assertive,  aggressive,  rather  than  defensive. 

3.  Preach  on  important  topics,  rather  than  on  those  of  minor 

moment. 

4.  Choose  topics  from  the  Word  of  God  always. 


XXII 
ITS  IDEAL  TOPICS 

THKEE  things,  fairly  considered,  will  go  far  to 
settle  this  question  of  topics  for  the  pulpit : 
the  preacher's  office^  commission,  and  aim. 

The  preacher's  office.  He  is  called  in  the  Word 
of  God  a  herald,  a  proclaimer — a  public  messenger. 
The  herald  does  not  create  his  message :  he  carries  the'' 
message  of  another,  and  commonly  of  one  in  authority^ 
— his  superior,  whose  absolute  right  to  have  the  mes- 
sage transmitted  with  sacred  fidelity,  is  not  open  to 
challenge.  With  the  message  from  God,  how  utterly 
beyond  the  herald's  province  to  take  from  or  add  to 
the  message  with  which  he  has  been  entrusted.  The 
preacher  is  God's  herald.  And  as  such,  he  has  a  mes- 
sage to  deliver — neither  more  nor  less.  He  changes 
it,  makes  light  of  it,  mutilates  it — at  his  peril. 

The  preacher's  cominissioii.  It  is  found  in  the  last 
words  of  instruction  given  by  Jesus  to  His  disciples: 
"  Go  ye.  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations  .  .  . 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I 
commanded  you."  ^  And  again  :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  whole  creation."^ 
That  this  is  what  all  preachers  for  all  time  are  to  teach 
and  preach  is  clear  from  the  added  words  of  Jesus, 
"  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world." 

So  Paul,  when  called  of  God  to  the  ministry,  felt 
» Matt.  28 :  19-20.  2  ^^rk  16  :  15. 

349 


gjo  The  Sermon 

that  this  was  the  >one  exclusive  message  he  had  to 
deliver,  as  an  ambassador  for  Christ,  saying,  "  Christ 
sent  me  to  jpreach  the  Gosjpel!'''  ^  And  in  setting  Tim- 
othy into  the  ministry,  Paul  charged  him  before  God 
and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  "  preach  the  Word  " ;  ^ 
i.  e.,  the  Word  of  God — the  message  which  God  would 
have  all  His  appointed  and  anointed  heralds  proclaim. 
So  those  early  preachers  went  everywhere  preaching 
the  Word  of  God.  It  was  this  that  whole  cities  came 
out  to  hear,  and  that  mightily  "  grew "  and  "  pre- 
vailed," and  that  was  not  "  bound,"  but  was  "  living  " 
and  "  powerful,"  and  by  which  those  early  preachers 
went  "everywhere  triumphing  in  Christ  Jesus." 

The  exact  limit  of  this  Word  is  "all  Scripture." 
This  is  the  preacher's  message — his  only  message. 
He  is  to  go  everywhere,  holding  forth  the  word  of 
life — of  salvation — of  God.  The  word  of  science  is 
not  that.  The  word  of  history  is  not  that.  The  word 
of  philosophy  is  not  that.  These  may  illustrate,  ex- 
plain, vivify  the  truth  of  Scripture  ;  but  to  make  these 
the  substance  of  the  message,  is  clearly  transcending 
the  right  of  a  "herald." 

The  jpreacher^s  aim.  It  is  salvation  in  the  largest 
sense:  reconstruction  of  manhood.  The  preacher  is 
to  reach  and  find  his  man,  and  then  build  him  up  in 
Christ  Jesus.  This  is  his  constant,  absorbing,  inspir- 
ing purpose,  and  it  has  only  one  possible  way  of  ac- 
complishment— by  the  truth  of  God  as  accomjpanied 
hy  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  Holy  Spirit  convicts  and 
sanctifies  men  only  by  the  truth — and  by  the  truth, 
not  as  it  is  in  Socrates  or  Plato  or  the  stars  or  the 
philosophies — but  as  it  is  in  Jesus — the  Christ. 

» 1  Cor.  1 :  17.  ^2  Tim.  4 : 2. 


Its  Ideal  Topics  351 

If  this,  then,  is  the  office  and  the  commission 
and  the  aim  of  the  preacher — if  he  is  simply  a  herald 
of  God  sent  to  deliver  a  certain  specified  message  in 
order  to  salvation,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  much 
concerning  "  Topics  for  the  pulpit "  is  already  settled  ; 
much  that  will  throw  light  on  our  path  as  we  con- 
sider the  range  of  pulpit  topics,  their  variety,  and  the 
jproportion  in  which  the  varied  topics  should  he  used. 

I.     The  range  of  topics. 

(a)  The  range  is  limited  to  the  Word  of  God.  The 
Scriptures  furnish  the  only  legitimate  themes  of  pulpit 
discourse.  With  these  "  the  man  of  God  may  be  com- 
plete, furnished  completely  unto  every  good  work."  i 
He  must  look  to  his  instructions,  and  follow  them. 
If  God  has  provided  a  word  for  him,  and  has  said 
^^  Preach  this  Word,^^  he  has  just  this  to  preach, 
neither  more  nor  less.  He  ceases  to  be  a  herald  when 
he  travels  beyond  his  instructions.  He  does  not  preach 
the  Word. 

It  may  be  truth  he  preaches — important  truth  :  but 
so  long  as  it  is  truth  beyond  the  range  of  Scripture, 
he  is  without  divine  authority  or  sanction  in  preach- 
ing it,  and  thus  divests  himself  of  his  high  and  sacred 
function  as  an  ambassador  of  Jesus  Christ.  Inspired 
truth,  given  of  God  for  salvation,  should  invariably 
mark  pulpit  utterance.  Topics  not  lodged  in  any 
single  text  or  passage  of  Scripture  may  be  for  the 
elevation  of  society  and  the  promotion  of  morals,  and 
the  advancement  of  civilization,  and  the}^  should  have 
thorough  treatment,  and  doubtless  they  should  have  it 
often,  and  by  Christian  ministers,  but  not  in  sermons 
with  the  Word  of  God  for  their  text.     For  the  text 

^  1  Tim.  3 :  17. 


352  The  Sermon 

thus  becomes  a  mere  figure-head,  and  a  false  one.  It 
has  nothing  to  do  with  such  a  discourse,  and  the 
divine  Word  is  dishonoured  by  being  placed  there. 

(J)  While  the  range  of  topics  is  thus  limited  to  the 
Scriptures,  it  is  not  to  he  inferred  that  every  text  of 
Scripture  furnishes  a  proper  theme  for  pulpit  dis- 
course. There  are  texts  obviously  local  and  secular — 
statements  of  fact  having  no  spiritual  import,  nar- 
rative portions,  obituary  notices,  statistical  records, 
and  the  like,  which  good  judgment  and  taste  would 
never  bring  into  the  pulpit.  As  2  Timoth}^  4 :  13, 
"The  cloak  that  I  left  at  Troas  with  Carpus,  bring 
with  thee." 

{c)  This  Scriptural  limit  of  the  range  of  pulpit 
topics  rigidly  excludes  all  purely  secular  topics :  as, 
for  example,  the  merely  scientific  or  philosophical  or 
social  or  political.  Secular  benefits  come  to  society 
and  the  state  from  preaching ;  but  they  do  not  come 
from  preaching  on  secular  themes.  Christianity  is 
weakened  as  a  social  and  civilizing  power,  just  as 
secularity  characterizes  its  pulpit  ministrations.  It 
gets  its  ground  leverage  from  man's  need  as  a  sinner, 
and  from  its  power  as  a  salvation,  and  the  leverage 
is  gone,  just  as  these  a7'e  lost  sight  of  in  secular 
themes. 

It  was  when  rationalism  ran  mad  in  Germany  that 
"sermons  were  preached  everywhere  upon  such  sub- 
jects as  the  necessity  of  industry,  the  ill-effects  of 
lawsuits — that  Christmas  was  taken  advantage  of  to 
connect  the  sad  story  of  the  child  born  in  a  manger, 
with  the  most  approved  methods  of  feeding  cattle ; 
and  the  appearance  of  Jesus  walking  in  the  garden 
at  the  break  of  day  on  Easter  morning  with  the  habit 


Its  Ideal  Topics  353 

of  rising  early  and  taking  a  walk  before  breakfast."^ 
Homiletical  instruction  on  silk  worms  Las  been  given 
from  the  pulpit ;  on  substitutes  for  sugar  and  coffee  in 
a  time  when  these  articles  were  scarce ;  on  the  Chris- 
tian mode  of  cultivating  red  beets,  and  the  pious 
method  of  raising  tobacco. 

All  such  topics  are  of  course  barred  out  of  the 
pulpit.  But  much  of  the  sensational  preaching  of 
to-day  comes  in  the  same  category.  Texts  are  torn 
from  their  exegetical  nexus,  and  made  to  do  service  in 
the  behalf  of  themes,  with  which  it  would  be  a  gross 
affront  to  the  Spirit  of  inspiration  to  say  He  ever 
connected  them.  Think  of  the  pathetic  scene  where 
Christ  is  weeping  over  Jerusalem,  and  imagine  the 
mental  and  spiritual  make-up  of  a  man  who  could  use 
that  scene,  so  full  of  pathos  and  tears,  for  a  sermon 
on  "  the  relative  advantages  of  city  and  country 
life"!^ 

{d)  This  limit  of  the  range  of  topics  to  the  Word 
of  God,  leaves  scant  room  for  controversial  topics. 
There  is  little,  if  any,  space  in  the  divine  Word  de- 
voted to  polemics.  The  truth  is  directly  pressed  with 
cogent  argument,  and  every  variety  of  fact  and  illus- 
tration. The  more  of  this  direct  inculcation  there  is 
in  sermons,  the  more  they  will  be  like  the  Scriptures 
in  bold  and  unembarrassed  statements.  To  carry  con- 
troversial themes  into  the  pulpit,  and  to  bang  away  at 
opposing  theories,  is  often  to  suggest  doubts  where 
none  before  existed.  Error  is  commonly  lest  combatted 
hy  the  direct  inculcation  of  truth.  Fill  the  hearers' 
minds  with  truth,  preached  directly,  balancedly,  boldly, 

^Hagenbach. 

^  Advertised  and  preached  in  one  of  our  city  churches  this  i)ast  yeai*. 


254  The  Sermon 

with  clear  Scriptural  warrant,  and  errors  will  find  it 
hard  to  get  lodgment. 

To  rush  into  the  pulpit  with  a  reply  to  the  book  or 
scientific  review  the  preacher  has  just  been  reading, 
may  be  the  very  means  of  publishing  error  of  which 
the  congregation  have  never  heard ;  and  the  error  may 
be  remembered  when  the  antidote  is  forgotten. 
Doubtless  notice  should  be  taken  of  current  criticism 
upon  Christian  faith  and  doctrine ;  but  doubtless  this 
notice  should  be  taken  outside  the  jpidjjit  Printed 
attacks  should  be  answered  by  printed  defenses.  Send 
the  antidote  where  somebody  has  flung  the  poison. 
If  a  vicious  attack  on  evangelical  truth  has  appeared 
in  some  paper  or  periodical,  send  a  reply  through  the 
same  channel.  It  will  do  far  more  and  better  service 
than  a  dozen  sermons,  for  it  will  reach  the  audience 
the  vicious  attack  reached.  Sometimes  a  doctrinal 
error  may  have  so  pervaded  a  community  as  to  justify 
its  complete  exposure  and  refutation  in  the  pulpit ; 
but  the  occasions  are  exceedingly  rare  when  the  sanc- 
tuary should  be  turned  into  an  arena  of  ex  parte  de- 
bate. Men  do  not  come  to  the  house  of  God  to  be  fed 
on  the  reputation  of  skeptics ;  skeptics  even  of  whose 
existence  probably  nine-tenths  in  every  audience  have 
no  knowledge.  Surely  not  at  the  flock  within  the  fold 
is  the  minister  to  cast  "  the  bristling  missile^  that  ought 
to  be  hurled  at  the  wolves  without." 

{e)  This  limit  of  the  range  of  topics  does  not  leave 
large  room  for  apologetics  in  the  pulpit;  i.  e.,  evidences 
of  Christianity  and  defense  against  assailants.  Now 
and  then  an  explorer  with  his  spade  does  wonders  for 
God's  truth.  He  turns  up  unimpeachable  witnesses 
that  may  well  be  heard  from  the  pulpit. 


Its  Ideal  Topics  355 

But  beyond  a  doubt  much  may  be  left  to  the  self- 
evidencing  power  of  the  truth.  Christianity  is  its  own 
evidence.  Some  things  may  well  betaken  for  granted. 
This  is  the  way  of  God's  Word,  and  it  should  be  the 
preacher's  way.  After  nineteen  hundred  years  it  can 
hardly  be  necessary  or  desirable  to  convey  the  impres- 
sion that  the  Christian  religion  is  a  thing  yet  needing 
to  be  proved.  Doubt  of  ability  to  hold  the  fort  will 
surely  be  born  of  constantly  building  fortifications  for 
defense.  Pulpit  themes  should  be  largely  such  as  can 
be  carried  directly  to  the  conscience  and  the  heart. 
In  Christianity,  to  show,  to  exhibit,  is  often  to  demon- 
strate. 

{/)  But  how  does  this  Scriptural  limit  of  the  range 
of  topics  for  the  pulpit  affect  jyA^76>,s6>/?^^c«^  topics  ? 
Are  they  barred  from  pulpit  discussion  ? 

As  the  pulpit  is  the  place  where  Christianity  gets  its 
most  constant  and  conspicuous  official  public  expres- 
sion, the  question  occurs  whether  the  philosophy  that 
underlies  all  our  thinking,  and  that  does  so  much  to 
shape  it,  is  to  make  itself  heard  in  the  discussion  of 
philosophical  topics  in  the  pulpit ;  or  whether  that 
philosophy  is  simply  to  be  a  background  upon  which 
all  our  preaching  is  set  ?  The  latter,  beyond  a  doubt. 
Philosophy  of  some  sort  every  thinking  man  will  have. 
Popular  modern  thought  has  given  it  immense  sweep, 
from  the  philosophy  of  the  unconditioned  soaring 
among  the  infinities  to  the  philosophy  of  the  brigade 
of  bread  and  butter.  But  confining  ourselves  to  the 
stricter  definition,  the  treatment  of  knowledge  as 
knowledge,  let  us  consider  by  way  of  example,  "the 
innate  idea  of  God  "  in  the  human  soul.  Left  to  itself, 
fetich  worship  may  be  the  product.     Developed  by 


356  The  Sermon 

pure  reasoning,  and  in  such  a  man  as  Spinoza,  panthe- 
ism may  be  the  outcome.  Developed  exclusively  by  ex- 
perience and  inductive  reasoning,  and  we  may  reach  a 
God  of  human  passions.  Theologians  have  founded 
religion  in  the  feelings,  and  promoted  a  kind  of  irra- 
tional mysticism.  Others  have  so  exalted  the  divine 
will  as  to  make  God's  fiat  the  basis  of  all  distinction 
between  right  and  wrong,  thus  giving  ground  for  the 
atheistic  charge  that  "  Theism  makes  a  capricious  will 
supremey  A  necessarian  lands  logically  in  material- 
ism— and  man  becomes  "  a  puppet,  that  moves  accord- 
ing as  its  strings  are  pulled."  Schleiermacher's  philos- 
ophy shaped  his  theology.  He  was  intensely  subjec- 
tive. Feeling  with  him  was  a  stronger  reality  than 
speculation.  His  philosophy  flamed  up  everywhere  in 
his  preaching.  And  men  like  Bushnell,  F.  W.  Kobert- 
son,  Maurice,  and  Miiller  were  often  drinking  at  this 
fountain.  True  or  false,  philosophy  will  strike  up  into 
the  pulpit. 

But  philosophy  in  the  pulpit  is  one  thing.  Phil- 
osophical topics  in  the  pulpit  is  quite  another  thing. 
The  minister  must  loolc  out  what  kind  of  philosophy 
gets  into  his  pulpit,  and  keep  out  of  his  pulpit  philo- 
sophical topics. 

If  it  be  contended  that  philosophical  topics  stand 
vitally  related  to  Christian  truth,  that  they  are  im- 
plied and  suggested  and  taken  for  granted  in  Scripture, 
that  they  are  God's  great  thoughts  written  in  the 
structure  of  the  soul,  and  that  therefore  they  should 
have  place  in  the  pulpit,  the  sufficient  answer  is  that 
God's  great  thoughts  are  in  the  rocks,  the  stars,  the 
flowers,  the  soils — everywhere;  but  this  is  hardly  a 
reason  for  presenting  geological,  astronomical,  botan- 


Its  Ideal  Topics  357 

ical,  and  agricultural  topics  in  the  pulpit.  Some  of 
these  have  vital  relation  to  Christian  truth,  but  we  are 
not  commanded  to  preach  them. 

*'  Earth's  crammed  with  heaven 
And  every  common  bush  afire  with  God ; 
But  only  he  who  sees,  takes  off  his  shoes; 
The  rest  sit  round  it  and  pluck  blackberries."  ^ 

This  is  beautiful  poetic  thought  and  beautiful  Chris- 
tian sentiment,  but  it  furnishes  no  reason  why  we 
should  go  into  the  pulpit  and  preach  on  vegetation  ! 
There  are  "  tongues  in  trees,"  and  "  books  in  the  run- 
ning brooks  "  ;  but  there  are  no  "  sermons  in  stones," 
Shakespeare  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  Ser- 
mons have  the  Word  of  God  for  their  base  and  source. 
The  Bible,  and  the  Bible  alone,  is  at  once  the  source 
and  the  test  of  all  the  matter  of  preaching.  The  mat- 
ter of  preaching  is  the  whole  faith.  Scripture  is  ex- 
hibitive  of  the  whole  faith,  and  "  Christ  is  the  water- 
mark on  every  page." 

Another  point  in  support  of  the  contention  that 
philosophical  topics  should  not  go  into  the  pulpit  is  the 
nature  of  preaching.  That  which  is  essential,  which 
all  the  discourses  of  the  Bible  have  in  common,  and 
which  all  our  sermons  should  have  in  common  with 
them,  is  that  they  proclaim  the  will  of  God.  Doing 
this  out  of  and  according  to  the  Scriptures  is  preaching. 
The  pulpit  is  not  an  academical  chair,  and  the  church 
is  not  a  philosopher's  lecture  room.  A  character  of 
urgency  should  dominate  in  it.  By  this  is  not  meant 
that  it  is  to  be  simply  a  cry  of  alarm.  By  no  means. 
But  it  is  not  a  study,  a  contemplation,  by  eminence. 

^Mrs.  Browning. 


358  The  Sermon 

Its  fundamental  specialty  is jper suasion.  This  cannot 
be  too  often  emphasized.  The  sermon  is  nothing  if  it 
does  not  bear  on  the  will,  to  move  it  Godward. 

^N^or  is  it  meant  that  preaching  is  to  be  narrow  in 
its  range  of  resource — that  there  is  to  be  no  familiarity 
with  scientific  and  philosophic  thought. 

But  this  is  meant — that  preaching  is  the  direct,  bold, 
urgent,  oratorical  presentation  of  the  truth  of  God  ; 
and  this  is  meant — that  every  whipster  in  theology 
and  smatterer  in  science  or  philosoph}^  is  not  to  rush 
into  the  pulpit  fresh  from  some  book  or  review  ar- 
ticle to  demolish  Huxley  or  Spencer  or  Mill  or  Haeckel ; 
and  this  is  meant — that  the  sanctuary  is  not  to  be 
turned  into  an  arena  of  ex  parte  debate — that  the 
"  apologetic  "  and  the  "  conflict-reconciliation  "  busi- 
ness, as  d.  pulpit  business,  has  been  greatly  overdone. 
Preaching  has  such  a  character  of  urgency,  and  is  so 
much  a  proclamation  of  will  to  will,  that  it  seems  the 
very  climax  of  absurdity  for  a  minister  to  enter  the 
pulpit  and  undertake  there  to  lay  philosophical  founda- 
tions for  his  hearers'  "  primary  beliefs "  !  For  ex- 
ample, Harris  says  :  "  Man  cannot  inquire  respecting 
the  personality  of  God  till  by  studying  the  constitu- 
tion of  man,  he  has  found  out  that  man  is  a  person."  ^ 
This  is  true,  philosophically,  and  Harris  is  right.  But 
imagine  a  preacher  on  the  plea  of  furnishing  a  basis 
for  intelligent  belief  in  God  and  His  personality,  com- 
ing before  the  congregation  and  saying,  "  My  dear 
hearers,  I  am  come  this  morning  to  prove  to  you  that 
each  one  of  you  is  a  person." 

Yet  the  preacher  should  do  just  this  thing  if 
philosophical   topics  are  to  be  at  home  in  the  pulpit. 

^  "  Philosophical  Basis  of  Theism,"  p.  3. 


Its  Ideal  Topics  359 

For  the  idea  that  man  is  a  person,  is  the  very  bottom 
idea  in  philosophy.  And  if  you  are  going  to  lay  the 
philosophic  foundations  of  a  stable  faith,  you  must  be- 
gin there.  Which  needs  to  be  proved  in  the  pulpit 
just  as  much  as  the  existence  and  personality  of  God 
— -jiost  as  inuch  ! 

II.      Variety  of  topics. 

(a)  Studious  regard  should  be  had  to  variety  in  the 
choice  of  topics,  as  greatly  contributive  to  pulpit  in- 
terest and  efficiency.  The  best  thing  palls  on  the 
taste  if  long  continued ;  e.  g.,  eight  or  ten  sermons 
on  the  peril  of  delay  in  conversion  would  be  apt  to 
breed  satiety,  to  say  nothing  of  the  peril  of  a  sinner's 
waiting  eight  or  ten  weeks  to  hear  what  the  peril  of 
delay  is  !  Sermons  are  not  to  be  made,  as  it  has  been 
said  they  used  to  make  ships  in  Maine — by  the  mile  : 
and  when  they  had  an  order  for  a  ship  they  cut  off  so 
much  timber,  rounded  up  a  stern  and  a  bow,  and  sent 
it! 

(b)  The  two  general  classes  of  topics  that  should 
have  large  place  in  the  pulpit  are,  topics  designed  for 
structural  work  in  life  and  character — adapted  to 
growth  and  edification — to  build  men  up  in  Christ 
Jesus  ;  and  topics  designed  for  rescue  work — chosen 
for  the  express  purpose  of  conviction  and  conversion  : 
looking  to  the  iinynediate  salvation  of  souls. 

If  the  first  of  these  are  exclusively  handled  in  the 
pulpit,  the  Gospel  becomes  only  food  for  the  saints — 
a  word  of  instruction. 

If  the  second  class  are  exclusively  handled,  the  Gos- 
pel becomes  simply  an  appeal  to  the  impenitent — aery 
of  alarm.  He  who  is  a  pastor  must  frequently,  and 
throughout   his  entire  ministry,  treat  both   of  these 


360  The  Sermon 

general  classes  of  topics.  His  whole  responsibility 
can  in  no  other  way  be  met.  The  evangelist  may  give 
himself  largely,  and  even  exclusively,  to  awakening 
sermons,  summoning  men  to  repentance  and  a  new  life. 
But  the  pastor — the  shepherd,  put  in  charge  of  the  fold, 
must  feed  his  flock  as  well  as  seek  the  lost.  And  he 
will  best  feed  his  flock,  who  so  fills  them  with  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  that  they  will  all  be  seekers  of  the 
lost — going  out  and  compelling  men  to  come  in. 
Therefore,  no  imagined  or  real  success  in  winning 
souls,  however  marked  the  success,  should  keep  a  pas- 
tor always  hammering  away  at  the  ungodly.  The 
flock  will  suffer  and  grow  lean  and  weak  and  sickly, 
if  they  do  not  die,  under  such  treatment. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  should  be  said  with  equal 
positiveness,  that  no  imagined  or  real  success  in  com- 
forting, guiding,  feeding  the  flock,  should  keep  a  pas- 
tor always  furnishing  supplies  to  the  saints.  Like  his 
Lord,  he  should  be  filled  with  compassion  for  the  lost, 
and  he  should  seek  to  save  them.  He  should  long  for 
souls  and  get  them,  and  rest  not  without  frequently 
having  this  seal  of  God  upon  his  ministry. 

How  does  his  commission  read  ?  Go  and  mahe  dis- 
ciples and  teach  them.  Who  gave  him  the  right  to  bi- 
sect his  commission  ?  How  can  he  stand  in  the  place 
of  his  Lord,  and  in  the  presence  of  unsaved  souls,  some 
of  whom  are  before  him  every  Sabbath,  and  have  no 
compassion  on  them  ?  And  if  he  have  any  compassion 
in  his  heart,  how  can  heJceep  it  there,  and  never  let  it 
get  into  his  sermons  ? 

Rescue  work  and  construction  work — every  pastor 
should  be  at  both  in  every  year  of  his  ministry.  He 
should  seek  for  lost  souls,  and  care  for  them  after  they 


Its  Ideal  Topics  361 

are  found  ;  and  so  save  to  completeness — gather  and 
build,  gather  and  huild^  gather  and  hu'dd^  so  long  as 
God  lets  him  preach  His  Word. 

((?)  But  there  is  a  further  and  more  minute  division 
of  topics,  into  doctrinal,  ethical,  narrative,  biograph- 
ical, social,  political,  and  topics  of  Christian  benevo- 
lence. 

Doctrinal  topics.  How  should  these  be  preached  ? 
As  doctrines  lie  at  the  base  of  the  Christian  system, 
they  should  have  frequent  treatment  in  the  pulpit. 
They  inform  the  understanding,  give  intelligence  to 
conviction,  furnish  firm  anchorage  to  faith,  and  lay 
broad  and  deep  foundations  for  Christian  culture  and 
Christian  life.  A  true  stability  in  Christian  character 
is  impossible  without  them. 

As  an  objection  to  doctrinal  preaching,  it  is  urged 
that  doctrines  are  dry  and  cold ;  and  the  people  want 
something  that  will  touch  and  move  the  heart. 

This  objection  arises  partly  from  a  misconception 
of  the  relation  of  truth  to  emotion ;  and  partly  from 
a  common  fault  of  treatment  of  doctrinal  topics. 

The  misconception  is  in  divorcing  truth  from  emo- 
tion, as  its  ground  and  cause.  IS'o  emotion,  unless  it 
be  merely  animal  or  evil — no  rational  emotion,  can 
move  a  rational  being  except  as  it  is  grounded  in  ap- 
prehended truth.  If  light  without  heat  is  cold  :  heat 
without  light  is  blind.  It  is  truth  clearly  apprehended 
that  excites  feeling  and  volition.  And  nothing  stirs 
so  profoundly  the  human  heart,  and  therefore  so 
nourishes  and  renews  emotion,  as  the  great  and 
mighty  ideas  that  lie  imbedded  in  Christian  doctrine. 

But  the  objection  also  arises  from  a  common  fault 
of  treatment  of  doctrinal  topics. 


362  The  Sermon 

Doctrinal  sermons  are  too  frequently  divested  of 
the  flush  and  throb  and  energy  of  real  life,  and  rattled 
in  the  pulpit  as  mere  skeletons,  or  theological  bare- 
bones. 

Three  things  borne  constantly  in  mind  will  correct 
this  fault  of  treatment.  1.  In  the  use  of  doctrinal 
topics,  the  oratorical  demands  upon  the  preacher  are 
to  prevail,  rather  than  the  demands  of  scientific  and 
exact  method.  The  science  should  be  science  popular- 
ized :  the  logic,  logic  on  fire.^  The  technical  phrase- 
ology of  the  school,  naked  abstractions,  theological 
formulas,  themselves  needing  explanation,  should  be 
avoided  ;  and  everything  should  be  made  to  assume 
rhetorical  and  concrete  form. 

2.  The  whole  power  of  doctrinal  themes  should 
he  made  to  hear  itnjpractical  directions.  It  is  a  maxim 
needing  constant  reiteration  and  emphasis;  that  "doc- 
trines should  be  preached  practically  and  duties  doc- 
trinally." 

3.  Doctrines  should  be  preached  in  the  connections 
in  which  they  are  set  forth  in  the  Word  of  God.  See 
how  the  doctrine  of  election  is  everywhere  made  to 
include  the  ineans  as  well  as  the  ends  (John  15  :  16  ; 
Eph.  1 :  4  ;  2  Tim.  2:13;  1  Peter  1  :  2).  See  also  how 
precepts  are  linked  with  promises,  how  faith  is  linked 
with  life,  pardon  with  penitence,  redemption  with  re- 
newal. 

But  this  counsel  is  not  given  as  if  there  were  to  be 
tolerated  any  abatement,  even  by  so  much  as  by  one 
jot  or  tittle  of  the  claims  of  God's  truth.  Disguise 
nothing,  withhold  nothing,  cover  up  nothing  that  God 

^  Tyndall  could  present  a  strictly  scientific  topic  to  a  popular  audi- 
ence with  thrilling  interest. 


Its   Ideal  Topics  363 

has  bidden  His  heralds  to  preach,  however  unwelcome 
to  the  natural  heart.  Dare  to  preach  all  the  truth 
— to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God — to  displace  all 
half  tints  by  vivid  colouring — to  divide  hearers,  and 
to  divide  all  mankind  into  two  classes,  and  only  two, 
as  far  as  vital  relation  to  the  Gospel  is  concerned  :  the 
friends  and  the  enemies  of  the  truth — the  children  of 
God  and  the  children  of  the  devil.  But  avoid  need- 
less offense  and  the  useless  arousing  of  opposition,  by 
the  employment  of  technical  theological  terms,  liable 
to  be  misunderstood,  and  against  which  ignorant  prej- 
udice may  already  exist. 

How  then  should  doctrinal  topics  be  preached  ? 

Frequently,  boldly,  distinctly,  oratorically,  practi- 
cally, in  their  Scriptural  connections,  and  with  warmth 
of  conviction.  So  preached,  they  will  do  more  than 
all  else  towards  building  up  an  intelligent  and  stable 
body  of  believers  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Ethical  topics. — They  embrace  all  those  duties 
growing  out  of  man's  relation  to  man  and  to  God  ; 
their  nature,  limits,  obligations,  and  motives.  They 
stand  related  to  doctrinal  themes  as  works  to  faith. 
As  faith  is  dead  without  works,  so  are  doctrines  dead 
without  duties. 

Three  points  should  be  borne  in  mind  in  preaching  ^ 
upon  ethical  themes. 

First  that  the  specific,  sweeping  and  imperative  ■ 
claims  of  the  divine  law  are  to  be  preached.  But, 
mark  you,  preached,  not  that  men  may  obey  and  live  ; 
but  that  they  may  see  the  impossibility  of  obedience 
by  nature,  and  he  led  to  Christ  to  find  in  Him  the 
righteousness  that  may  meet  the  law's  demands. 
God's  commandment  is  "  exceeding  broad "  and  its^ 


364  The  Sermon 

vigorous  lines  must  be  drawn  faithfully  across  the 
conscience  and  heart.  Mere  vague  or  general  dis- 
cussions of  depravity  will  fail  of  producing  that  sense 
of  sinfulness  and  helplessness  and  hopelessness,  which 
will  lead  a  sinner  to  the  Lamb  of  God. 

The  second  point  to  be  borne  in  mind  in  preaching 

Ay     ^on  ethical  themes  is,  that  the  specific  sweeping  and 

^         imperative  claims   of   Christian   obedience  are  to   be 

\    preached.     For  Christ  is  a  Master  as  well  as  a  Saviour  ; 

and  Christianity  is  a  life  as  well  as  a  belief — a  rule  of 

practice  as  well  as  a  rule  of  faith.     But  it  is  distinctly 

to  be  borne  in  mind  by  the  preacher,  and  made  ever 

clear    to    the    hearer,    that    Christian    obedience    is 

preached,  not  as  a  ground  of  justification,  but  as  a 

j^Toof  of  having  heen  justified.     The  true  child  of  God 

'has  been  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works,  and 

he  is  to  be  fully  taught  as  to  what  these  good  works 

are. 

And  the  third  point  concerning  ethical  themes  is 
that  they  are  to  be  presented  as  not  so  much  the  mo- 
,      ralities   of  natural   religion  /    but  rather  as  having 
\        evangelical  basis  and  evangelical  obligation  hy  reason 
of  Chrisfs  cross.     It  is  a  gospel  system  of  ethics  the 
vpreacher  is  to  enforce.     The  natural  claims  and  ad- 
vantages of  virtue  may  indeed  be  shown  ;  but  always 
as  subordinate.     The  chief  stress  and  glory  and  power 
of  ethical  themes  should  be  got  from  Calvary. 

Narrative.,  biographical  and  historical  topics. — 
These  are  derived  from  Biblical  incidents,  parables, 
biographies  and  personal  records,  that  put  truth  in 
concrete  form.  The  fact  that  they  are  in  the  Scrip- 
tures in  such  abundance,  makes  their  frequent  use 
legitimate  in  the  pulpit.     They  often  furnish  setting 


Its  Ideal  Topics  365 

for  a  great  doctrine  or  a  great  duty  :  and  by  means  of 
which  such  doctrine  or  duty  may  be  the  more  impress- 
ively exhibited  and  enforced,  because  vitalized  by 
personality  and  so  freed  from  all  abstraction.  They 
make  truth  lifelike  and  vivid ;  Christ  and  the  woman 
of  Samaria  at  the  well ;  Christ  and  the  woman  that 
had  sinned ;  envy  and  Haman ;  pride  and  Naaman ; 
penitence  and  Peter ;  Christian  compassion  and  Christ's 
tears:  the  matchless  parables;  how  vividly  these  all 
embody  and  illustrate  truth. 

But  all  such  use  of  incident  and  story,  should  be 
/  vivid,  graphic,  brief — not  in  too  great  detail,  bringing 
/  out  only  the  salient  essential  points,  and  leaving  room 
for  pressure  of  argument  and  appeal. 

Topics  of  Christian  socialism. — There  is  such  a 
thing.  And  it  is  clearly  distinguishable  from  what  is 
known  as  modern  socialism.  The  latter  has  a  certain 
spirit  of  brotherhood,  and  it  aims  to  lessen  the  fright- 
ful inequalities  that  prevail  in  social  and  industrial  life. 
But  it  is  at  war  with  individualism,  with  competitiv- 
ism  and  with  cajpitalism ;  and  its  chief  aim  seems  to 
be  improvement  in  material  conditions  rather  than  in 
intellectual  or  spiritual,  thus  giving  it  a  materialistic 
aspect. 

On  the  other  hand.  Christian  socialism  has  no  war 
with  individualism ;  or  with  competitivism ;  or  with  capi- 
talism. Christianity  exalts  the  individual,  offers  eternal 
reward  for  competitive  effort,  and  insists  simply  on  ac- 
cumulated capital's  consecration.  In  Christianity  there 
is  nothing  held  more  sacred  than  the  individual — his 
rights,  his  privileges,  his  talents,  his  acquisitions.  God 
wants  no  machine  work.  He  lets  each  individual  will 
keep  its  throne.     And  He  distinctly  offers  reward  for 


366  The  Sermon 

competitive  effort.  ''  Thy  pound  hath  gained  ten 
pounds  ;  have  thou  authority  over  ten  cities."  "  Thy 
pound  hath  gained  five  pounds;  have  thou  authority 
over  five  cities."  And  again  :  "  Thou  hast  been  faith- 
ful over  a  few  things  ;  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over 
many  things."  And  as  to  capital — it  is  not  with  the 
possession  of  capital  nor  with  its  use,  but  with  its 
abuse  that  Christianity  is  at  war.  The  record  in  Acts 
4 :  32-35  is  sometimes  cited  as  an  instance  of  absolute 
community  of  goods.  But  it  simply  prov^es  that  the 
early  Christians  held  their  possessions  in  t^^ust  for  the 
Lord.  "  Not  one  of  them  said  that  ought  of  the 
things  which  he  possessed,  was  his  own;"  i.  e.,  of 
course  while  still  possessing  it.  If  anybody  lacked, 
the  others  who  had  abundance  sold  enough  to  meet  the 
immediate  need,  Ananias  and  Sapphira  were  punished, 
not  for  withholding  their  goods,  but  for  lying  about 
them.  Christian  socialism  makes  no  war  on  capital. 
It  only  demands  that  it  be  used  for  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  good  of  men.  The  converted  Karen  who  visited 
this  country  years  ago,  was  in  spirit  a  Christian 
socialist.  He  had  been  given  a  small  purse  of  gold, 
and  when  boarding  the  ship  for  his  return  home  he 
was  asked  why  he  had  not  used  some  of  his  money  to 
buy  little  memorials  of  his  visit  to  take  back  with  him. 
He  held  up  the  purse,  and  said,  "  This  no  me  money — 
this  Jesus  ChrisCs  money ^ 

When  a  millionaire  sits  loose  to  his  millions  after 
this  fashion,  looking  upon  his  millions  as  Jesus  Christ's 
millions,  and  when  he  proves  his  faith  by  his  works, 
never  asking,  "  Who  is  my  neighbour  ?  "  but,  finding  a 
man  anywhere  with  the  blood  of  the  human  race  in 
his  veins  and  in  need  of  help,  is  a  neighbour  to  him — 


Its  Ideal  Topics  367 

he  is  the  true  representative  of  Christian  socialism. 
And  when  his  time  to  die  comes,  he  will  <^o  to  bigger 
riches  than  he  ever  had  here  ;  for  of  such  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven. 

Political  topics. — Shall  political  questions  be 
carried  into  the  pulpit?  If  they  clearly  involve  a 
great  question  of  morals  for  which  a  clear  and  unmis- 
takable, "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  "  can  be  found  against 
them  in  Holy  Scripture,  of  course  they  ought  to  be 
taken  into  the  pulpit.  That  they  are  in  politics  is  a 
shame  to  our  citizenship.  For  the  pulpit  to  be  silent 
about  them  would  be  a  deeper  and  darker  shame  to 
our  Christianity.  That  they  have  drifted,  or  have 
been  dragged  into  politics,  does  not  change  their 
nature.  It  is  only  the  more  incumbent  on  the  part  of 
God's  heralds  to  let  God's  voice  be  heard  in  the  mat- 
ter. Fear  of  giving  political  offence  by  pulpit  utter- 
ance should  shrivel  before  the  fear  of  giving  God 
offence  by  pulpit  silence. 

Let  the  question  be  clear — the  case  unchallengeable 
— like  the  Sabbath  question,  the  saloon  question,  the 
question  of  financial  honour,  the  question  of  an  unholy 
war,  Mormonism,  communism, — anything  that  through 
the  greed  of  power  or  lust  of  license  or  fear  of  adverse 
vote,  has  been  allowed  to  fasten  itself  on  the  body 
politic,  and  to  gnaw  away  at  the  moralities  and  the 
decencies  and  the  safeguards  of  society  and  the  home 
— and  pulpit  silence  on  that  question  is  simply 
recreancy  to  a  sacred  trust.  It  would  seem  as  if  the 
Church  of  God  had  had  lessons  enough  on  this  subject, 
and  had  eaten  enough  of  the  fruits  of  such  foll}^  to 
keep  her  forever  free  from  any  and  every  entangling 
alliance  with  policies  or  powers,  that  would  make  her 


368  The  Sermon 

dumb  in  the  presence  of  a  great  iniquity  because  it 
had  somehow  got  into  politics  ! 

Topics  of  Christian  heiievolence  as  related  to  the 
Boards  of  the  Church. — They  represent  the  College 
Board,  the  Board  of  Ministerial  Education,  of  Home 
Missions,  of  Foreign  Missions,  of  Freedmen,  of  Church 
Erection,  of  Publication,  and  the  permanent  commit- 
tees on  Temperance. 

The  College  Board  aids  in  planting,  endowing,  and 
equipping  educational  institutions  under  Presbyterian 
control — so  that  all  the  instruction  shall  be  in  harmony 
with  the  Christian  faith.^ 

The  Board  of  Education  helps  young  men  through 
these  and  other  institutions  into  the  work  of  the 
ministry. 

The  Boards  of  Home  and  Foreign  Missions  and  of 
the  Freedmen,  give  the  men  their  fields,  and,  when 
needed,  help  support  them. 

The  Board  of  Church  Erection  helps  in  the  building 
of  houses  of  worship  for  these  mission  fields. 

The  Board  of  Publication  and  Sabbath  School  Work 
equips  these  mission  churches  with  books  and  tracts, 
aiming  especially  through  its  Sabbath  School  Mis- 
sionary Department  to  reach  the  children. 

The  Board  of  Ministerial  Kelief  relieves  the  wants 
of  God's  ambassadors  who  have  come  to  infirmity  and 
old  age ;  and  after  their  decease  looks  with  reverent 
care  after  their  destitute  widows  and  children. 

At  first  blush  it  would  seem  as  if  these  benevolences 

*  It  will  be  understood  that  the  boards  of  benevolence  here  referred 
to  are  the  officially  authorized  agencies  of  "  The  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States."  Other  denominations  may  have  different 
agencies. 


Its  Ideal  Topics  369 

were  too  many.  But  we  tried  consolidation  a  few 
years  ago,  and  the  scheme  failed.  It  gave  us  neither 
more  money,  nor  greater  efficiency,  nor  wider  interests. 

1.  These  benevolent  schemes  of  the  Church  are  her 
missionary  schemes — the  agencies  by  which  she  seeks 
to  obey  her  Lord  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature.  They  are  more  or  less  interdependent,  they 
have  been  born  of  experience  and  manifest  need,  arch- 
ing the  ministry  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  of  min- 
isterial life. 

2.  These  benevolent  schemes  can  be  eiSciently 
prosecuted  only  by  constant  and  liberal  giving.  They 
cost  money  for  their  prosecution  :  and  money  must  be 
had.  And  what  so  vitally  concerns  the  Church,  con- 
cerns all  the  churches,  and  each  individual  memher  of 
all  the  churches.  Hence  the  duty  of  all  to  share,  ac- 
cording to  ability  and  as  God  has  prospered  them,  in 
securing  this  steady  and  generous  supply  of  funds  to 
meet  the  ever-recurring,  and  often  increasing,  needs  of 
our  various  benevolent  boards. 

3.  No  liberal  Christian  giving  can  be  sustained  in 
any  church  without  intelligent  and  definite  knowledge 
of  the  need  to  be  met.  As  human  nature  is  consti- 
tuted, men  must  see  the  need — be  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  actual  necessity,  before  they  will  adequately 
and  continuously  meet  it.  It  is  the  law  of  the  human 
mind  to  be  moved  by  what  is  seen  and  known.  And 
this  is  not  only  according  to  human  nature,  but  ac- 
cording to  Scripture.  Paul  placed  the  need  of  the 
poor  saints  at  Jerusalem  before  the  churches  of  Galatia 
and  Corinth,  and  then  appealed  to  them  to  give. 
Jesus  represents  the  righteous  SiS  seeing  Him  hungered 
and  athirst  and  naked  and  sick  and  in  prison,  in  the 


370  >,The  Sermon 

persons  of  His  disciples,  and  so  giving  food  and  drink 
and  clothing  and  ministry.  In  neither  case,  and  in  no 
case  in  all  the  Bible,  is  giving  made  to  depend  solely 
on  abstract  Christian  principle.  Some  Christian  men 
do  indeed  set  apart  to  the  Lord  a  tenth,  or  a  fifth,  or 
a  third  of  their  income,  as  a  matter  of  principle ;  but 
these  are  comparatively  few,  and  even  these  must 
judge  to  what  objects  their  money  shall  go.  And  this 
judgment,  to  be  intelligent,  must  be  based  upon  knowl- 
edge. 

The  Church,  therefore,  to  give  constantly  and  liber- 
ally, must  he  informed — 7nust  know  the  facts  ^  the  worh 
done  and  to  he  done^  the  agencies  to  he  emjyloyed^  the 
expenses  to  he  incurred^  the  successes  already  achieved^ 
and  what  promise  there  is  of  results. 

4.  A  thorough  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the 
Church  of  this  missionary  and  benevolent  work  will 
depend  on  the  fidelity  of  the  preacher  in  presenting 
month  hy  month  and  year  hy  year  fronn  the  pulpit^  the 
"various  causes. 

A  large  service  has  been  rendered  by  the  able  and 
faithful  secretaries  of  these  boards,  who  in  addition  to 
their  laborious  office- work,  have  ransacked  the  conti- 
nent in  the  interests  of  the  different  boards,  visiting 
churches  and  presbyteries  and  synods,  their  minds 
crammed  to  the  full  and  their  hearts  aflame  with  the 
mighty  things  God  is  doing  through  these  respective 
mission  and  benevolent  agencies  of  our  beloved 
Church.  But  what  are  a  few  secretaries  among  eleven 
thousand  churches ! 

Something  also  has  been  done  and  can  still  be  done 
by  periodicals,  printed  circulars,  and  religious  news- 
papers ;  and  these  have  been,  and  should  continue  to 


Its  Ideal  Topics  371 

be,  freely  employed  to  increase  the  knowledge  of 
the  people  as  to  this  great  work  of  extending  the 
Gospel. 

But  many  cannot  be  induced  to  take  these  publica- 
tions. Many  who  take  them  neglect  to  read  them. 
And  even  when  they  are  read,  the  facts  they  set  forth 
lack  the  life  and  vividness  and  impressiveness  of  these 
same  facts  marshalled  and  grouped  in  connection  with 
some  truth  of  God  on  the  Sabbath  day  by  the  living 
preacher. 

5.  Hence,  and  with  a  kind  of  irresistible  pressure 
of  moral  obligation,  comes  the  conclusion  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  each  pastor  to  keep  himself  thoroughly 
informed  concerning  the  great  causes  in  our  scheme  of 
Christian  benevolence,  and,  from  time  to  time,  to  exhibit 
their  vast  needs,  their  open  doors,  their  many  signal 
successes,  as  constant  and  heaven-approved  claims 
upon  the  sympathies,  the  prayers,  and  the  contribu- 
tions of  his  people. 

6.  The  particular  method  may  be  left  to  the  indi- 
vidual judgment.  But  the  plan  of  publicly  designat- 
ing a  particular  Sabbath  in  the  year  for  each  one  of 
the  eight  or  ten  benevolent  boards  or  committees  of 
our  Church,  and  of  presenting  more  or  less  fully  on 
that  Sabbath  the  claims  of  the  cause,  is  recommended 
as  on  the  whole  leading  to  the  best  results. 

III.  The  proportions  in  which  these  various  topics 
should  be  presented  from  the  pulpit. 

{a)  Generally  speaking,  in  hihlical  proportions : 
"according  to  the  proportion  of  faith." 

Doctrinal  topics  should  be  first  of  all.  In  one 
form  or  another  these  should  be  made  the  hasis  of 


372  The  Sermon 

pulpit  ministration.  For  example :  Any  attempt  to 
mend  the  morals  of  men,  that  does  not  insist  on  a  re- 
creation— a  new  birth ;  that  does  not  make  distinct 
recognition  of  the  divine  scheme  of  human  recovery 
from  guilt  and  sin,  will  be  a  failure. 
/^The  great  themes  of  Christianity  are  what  should 
engage  the  minister's  chief  thought  and  study.  How 
otherwise  is  he  to  succeed  in  engrafting  a  divine  life 
on  human  nature.  Let  him  swing  away  from  the  dis- 
cussion and  practical  enforcement  of  the  distinguish- 
ing doctrines  of  sin  and  grace;  God's  topics — all  of  them 
— the  fall,  the  promise,  the  cross,  faith,  sovereignty,  the 
judgment,  heaven,  hell — and  he  v^ill  inevitably  lose 
the  lever  by  which  alone,  "  he  may  raise  up  the  very 
roots  of  human  life,"  and  throw  away  the  only 
power  by  which  the  ruined  soul  may  be  restored  to 
^  God. 

Alexander  says,  "  A  man  should  begin  early  to 
grapple  with  great  subjects.  An  athlete  gains  might 
only  by  great  exertions.  So  that  a  man  does  not 
overstrain  his  powers,  the  more  he  wrestles  the  bet- 
ter ;  but  he  7nust  lorestle^  and  not  merely  take  a  great 
i  subject  and  play  with  it." 

Ethical  themes  should  be  intermingled  with  doc- 
trinal ;  and  both  doctrinal  and  ethical  should  be  set 
forth  in  narrative  or  historical  robing,  in  Biblical  pro- 
portions, and  Scriptural  harmony. 

(J)  The  proportions  in  which  topics  should  be 
used  must  somewhat  vary  with  the  condition  of  the 
hearers.  Special  needs  will  of  course  require  special 
provision  for  them.  And  now  and  then  an  urgent  de- 
mand of  some  sort  will  justify  a  minister's  hulging 
with  a  certain  class  of  topics  for  a  period,   a  great 


Its  Ideal  Topics  373 

exigency  requiring  exigent,  persistent,  relentless  effort 
to  meet  it. 

IV.  Methods  for  securing  varied  and  Biblical  pro- 
portions. 

(a)  Keep  a  classified  list  of  topics  preached  on, 
and  consult  it  from  time  to  time,  to  see  whether  the 
proper  proportions  are  being  regarded. 

(5)  Go  through  a  kind  of  prescribed  course  be-" 
tvveen  communions,  e.  g.,  if  young  converts  have 
for  the  first  time  taken  their  covenant  vows,  two 
or  three  sermons  designed  to  help  and  strengthen 
these  new-born  disciples  would  very  appropriately  foL 
low  the  communion  service. 

Then  sermons  to  feed  the  flock,  to  establish  Chris- 
tians in  the  faith,  to  comfort  them  under  trial  and 
affliction — sermons  for  Christian  growth. 

Then  sermons  to  stimulate  to  Christian  service — and 
especially  to  be  busy  in  personal  effort  to  seek  and 
find  and  bring  to  Christ — sermons  for  Christian 
work. 

And  now  sermons  to  the  impenitent — inviting,  lov- 
ing, faithful,  searching  sermons,  that  mean  now. 

{c)  Have  regard  to  three  things  in  any  extended 
preaching  in  order  to  keep  the  balances,  and  avoid 
bulging. 

(1)  Have  regard  to  the  system  of  truth. 

(2)  Have  regard  to  the  varied  and  specific  needs 
of  the  flock. 

(3)  Have  regard  to  personal  predilection — last 
and  least,  but  by  no  means  to  be  wholly  overlooked. 

A  comprehensive  summary  of  this  whole  talk  on 
topics : 

1.     Proclaim  truth  rather  than  combat  error. 


374  The  Sermon 

2.  Be  assertive  and  aggressive,  rather    than    de- 
fensive. 

3.  Preach  on   important  topics,   rather    than    on 
those  of  minor  moment. 

4.  Choose  topics  from  the  Word  of  God  always. 


XXIII 
ITS  IDEAL  QUALITIES  OF  STYLE 


SYLLABUS 

I.     What    is  style?      Style  and   elocution.      Style  and   diction. 
Style  and  thought. 

Hence     (a)     In  order  to  write  well,  one  must  think  well. 
(6)     One  may  think  well  and  write  badly. 
II.     The  value  of  a  good  style. 

(a)     Complete  force  means  complete  expression, 
(6)     Especially  important  for  the  pulpit. 

III.  Objections  urged  to  study  of  style. 

(a)    It  makes  a  man  artificial — a  mere  student  of  words. 
(6)     Men  have  been  mighty  in  speech  without  it. 
(c)     Few  hearers  know  what  good  style  is. 

IV.  The  different  properties  of  style. 

(1)  The  fundamental  property  :  that  the  style  be  true — to 

thought — to  thinker. 

(2)  The    absolute    properties. — These     pertain   to  language 

itself  ;  are  fixed  and  inflexible.     Euphony,  harmonj^ 
rhythm,  and  grammatical  purity. 

(3)  The  relative  properties  are  various  ;  limited  here  to  per- 

spicuity,  precision,  energy,  and  beauty. 

Perspicuity 

1.  Its  nature  :     It  means  the  quality  of  being  seen  through  ;  trans- 

parency, clearness.     Of  what  worth  is  force  or  beauty  so  long 
as  the  preacher  is  not  understood. 

2.  Special  reasons  for  perspicuity  in  the  pulpit  : 

(a)  The  dominant  thing  in  preaching  is  instruction  in  or- 
der to  conviction  and  persuasion.  But  instruction 
is  impossible  where  the  instructor  is  not  under- 
stood. 

(6)  Obscurity  may  mislead — and  to  mislead  here  is 
peynlous. 

(c)     The  variety  of  mental  capacity  in  the  audience. 

3.  Means  for  the  attainment  of  perspicuity  : 

(a)    The  thought  must  be  clear  to  the  preacher. 


(6)     The  preacher  must  look  at  style  from   the  hearer^s 
point  of  view. 

(c)  Must  cultivate  exactness  in  the  use  of  words. 

(d)  Must  pay  heed  to  proper  arrangement  of  words  and 

sentences.  The  use  of  relative  words  must  be  care- 
fully discriminating.  In  reading,  one  can  study  out 
the  meaning.  In  listening  to  a  speaker,  this  is  im- 
possible. 

(e)  Must  read  perspicuous  writers. 

Precision 
The  property  that  gives  thought  sharp  outline.  It  has  respect  to 
number  of  words.  Perspicuity  to  kind  of  words.  Illustrated  by  scene- 
painting.  Involves  right  use  of  brevity  and  expansion.  Brief  repetition, 
apt  illustration,  its  chief  aids.  Omitting  nothing  necessary  :  discarding 
everything  superfluous. 

Energy 
This  is  the  quality  of  style  that  makes  thought  impinge.  It  comes  : 
(1)  From  energy  in  the  man.  The  men  of  intense  speech  are  the  men 
of  intense  conviction.  (2)  From  directness.  Hence  the  sententiousness 
of  proverbs.  (3)  From  use  of  figures  of  speech — especially  tropes. 
Personification  and  apostrophe  are  figures  of  intense  energy. 

Beauty 

This  is  the  quality  that  commends  discourse— makes  it  pleasing, 
winsome.  ( 1)  It  is  internal,  and  generic ;  goes  deeper  than  embel- 
lishment ;  enters  into  entire  sermonic  structure,  in  the  form  of  unity, 
propriety,  tone,  simplicity.  (2)  Beauty  is  also  external  and  specific — 
that  which  embellishes;  the  flush  and  splendour  of  style,  born  of  a 
delicate  fancy  or  a  brilliant  imagination.  But  it  must  be  useful 
beauty,  ornamenting  construction.  Blossoms  are  developed — never 
tied  to  the  apple  tree. 

Two  other  qualities  should  mark  the  style  of  pulpit  discourse  : 
Scripturalness  and  dignified  simplicity —the  one  born  of  a  soul  satu- 
rated with  Biblical  truth  ;  the  other  born  of  a  sense  of  the  divine 
proprieties  in  handling  the  things  of  God. 


XXIII 
ITS  IDEAL  QUALITIES  OF  STYLE 

IN  considering  the  matter  of  style,  it  is  vital  that 
we  first  attend  to  some  distinctions  and  defini- 
tions. 

L     What  is  style  ? 

Style  is  the  art  of  expressing  thought  in  language. 
Just  as  colour  gives  to  thought  a  body  in  painting, 
and  marble  gives  to  thought  a  body  in  sculpture,  and 
sound  gives  to  thought  a  body  in  music,  so  language 
gives  to  thought  a  body  in  literature.  Style  has  to  do 
with  this  body.     It  is  the  form  of  the  form. 

Style  and  elocution. 

Style  was  formerly  used  as  synonymous  with  "  elo- 
cution." And  ancient  rhetoricians  applied  the  word 
"elocution"  to  the  second  of  the  two  general  divi- 
sions of  rhetoric,  of  which  "invention"  is  the  first. 
The  etymology  of  the  word  sanctions  this  use.  But 
elocution  has  come  to  be  applied  to  oral  delivery. 
And  style  is  now  commonly  understood  as  denoting 
the  art  of  expressing  thought  in  language. 

Style  and  diction. 

Style  and  diction  are  sometimes  used  interchange- 
ably. But  diction  is  of  narrower  signification,  and 
has  reference  chiefly  to  the  grammatical  qualities  of 
discourse — to  purity  and  accuracy.  Style  is  a  more 
elevated    and   comprehensive  word,  embracing  those 

379 


380  The  Sermon 

qualities  which  mark  the  taste  and  genius  of  the 
writer. 

Style  and  thought. 

There  is  a  real  and  vital  relation,  in  some  es- 
sential qualities,  between  a  man's  thought  and  his 
style.  In  this  sense,  Buffon's  statement  is  true 
that  "  style  is  the  man."  It  represents  his  mind.  His 
thought  penetrates  and  animates  his  style  and  goes 
far  to  determine  its  outward  form  and  character,  as 
the  organic  body  of  which  his  thought  is  the  possess- 
ing and  vivifying  spirit.  Language  is  more  than  the 
mere  dress  of  thought.  It  is  the  living  body,  vital- 
ized, animated  and  given  a  special  form  and  character 
by  it. 

Hence,  {a)  In  order  to  lorite  well,  one  must  thiiik 
well.  For  ideas  alone  form  the  groundwork  of  style. 
If  the  spirit  be  dull,  the  body  will  surely  lack  expres- 
sion. Just  as  no  eye  flashes  and  no  face  glows,  so  no 
words  burn,  where  there  is  no  fire  within. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  {b)  One  may  think  well  and 
write  badly,  and,  in  this  sense,  Buffon's  oft-quoted 
maxim,  "  style  is  the  man,"  is  not  true.  Where  the 
art  of  thinking  has  received  special  attention,  and  the 
art  of  expression  none  at  all,  a  man  may  think  great 
thoughts,  yet  be  able  to  give  them  no  eloquent  em- 
bodiment in  language.  Language  is  a  study.  Its  use 
is  to  be  learned.  We  are  not  born  masters  in  the  art 
of  verbal  expression,  any  more  than  in  the  art  of 
painting  or  sculpture. 

II.     The  value  of  a  good  style. 

(a)  A  thought  can  only  be  given  to  others  with 
complete  force  when  it  has  complete  expression.  And 
this  is  style.     Its  value,  therefore,  can  hardly  be  over- 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  381 

estimated.  For  it  is  simply  rendering  the  thought  as 
perfectly  as  possible.  In  its  best  form,  it  is  exhibi- 
tive  of  whatever  force,  grandeur,  dignity,  beauty  there 
is  in  thought  to  instruct,  convince  and  move  men  to 
feeling  and  action.  What  brooks  it,  therefore,  how 
we  think,  or  what  we  think,  if  we  do  not  know  how 
to  express  our  thought  ? 

(h)  A  good  style  is  especially  important  for  the 
pulpit,  for  there  the  speaker  is  delivering  the  Word  of 
God ;  and  it  is  preeminently  due  to  God's  thoughts, 
that  they  be  given  lit  embodiment.  If  care  ought  to 
be  taken  by  the  lawyer  in  legal  documents,  and  by 
the  physician  in  medical  treatises,  that  their  ideas 
may  be  set  forth  with  verbal  exactness,  much  more 
should  the  gospel  herald  make  his  style  the  perfect 
medium  of  what  he  is  bidden  of  God  to  communicate 
to  men.  This  is  a  moral  matter  as  well  as  a  matter  of 
taste.  The  preacher  has  no  right  to  obscure  the  mes- 
sage by  a  bad  style ;  to  speak  of  divine  things  in  a 
way  that  impairs  their  efficacy  and  belittles  and  be- 
clouds them. 

A  bad  style  is  not  true — not  true  to  the  writer,  not 
true  to  the  subject.  And  what  right  has  a  preacher 
to  use  the  false,  in  dealing  with  the  things  of  God  ? 
If  it  be  said,  "The  thoughts  should  speak,"  the  answer 
is,  It  is  the  bad  style  that  hinders  them  from  speak- 
ing. Beyond  a  doubt,  truth  often  fails  of  its  best 
impression,  because  of  the  imperfect  form.  And  many 
a  hearer  is  made  indifferent  and  inattentive,  or  sharply 
critical  and  censorious  by  a  bad  style.  "  It  is  much 
better  to  write  so  as  to  make  a  critic  turn  Christian, 
than  so  as  to  make  a  Christian  turn  critic." 

III.     But  objections  are  urged  to  this  study  of  style. 


382  The  Sermon 

(a)  It  is  objected  that  such  study  will  make  a  man 
a7'tijicial — a  mere  student  of  words,  of  oictward forms. 
The  form  will  draw  attention  from  the  subject.  There- 
fore let  words  come  as  they  will.  Ideas  are  the  chief 
thing. 

Well,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  a  man  may  be 
borne  away  by  this  study  of  style,  so  as  to  become  at 
last  merely  a  cunning  worker  in  words,  a  manufac- 
turer of  pretty  sentences  and  high-sounding  phrases. 
There  is  a  subtle  influence  exerted  by  the  pomp,  har- 
mony and  decorum  of  fine  language,  which  is  likely 
to  make  itself  felt,  and  which  unquestionably  ought 
to  be  feared  and  resisted. 

But  surely  the  remedy  is  not  to  be  found  in  ignor- 
ing style  and  turning  our  backs  upon  it.  To  hold 
style  in  contempt  will  certainly  keep  any  preacher 
from  the  seductive  intoxication  of  the  art  of  verbal 
expression.  But  it  will  also  keep  his  thought  from 
reaching  his  hearers  in  all  its  completeness.  Thought 
can  be  given  its  full  worth  and  weight  only  when  best 
expressed.  And  its  best  expression  is  nothing  more 
or  less  than  the  style  that  it  is  proposed  to  hold  in 
such  contempt. 

The  remedy  is  in  keeping  the  end  of  good  style  con- 
stantly hefore  the  mind.  That  end  is  to  convey  the 
thought  in  the  fullest,  clearest,  'most  direct,  most  for- 
cible way  to  others.  Substance  can  never  be  sacrificed 
to  form,  if  the  form  is  always  sought  for  the  sake  of 
the  substance.  The  verbal  body  is  our  care  only  be- 
cause of  the  ideas  with  which  we  would  animate  it. 
The  best  style  is  that  which  will  best  embody  those 
ideas.  Instead  of  being  made  artificial  or  false,  there- 
fore, by  the  cultivation  of  style,  a  man  will  be  in- 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  383 

tensely  real  and  true,  just  as  he  keeps  the  end  of  style 
in  view — the  making  his  thought  intelligible  and 
powerful. 

(h)  Again,  it  is  objected  that  men  have  been 
mighty  in  speech  without  this  devotion  to  style.  Aris- 
totle speaks  indifferently  of  it.  Paul  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  it.  Pascal  is  on  record  as  saying :  "  True  elo- 
quence is  the  contempt  of  eloquence."  The  pulpit 
gives  repeated  instances  of  grand  effectiveness  without 
aid  from  style. 

But  as  to  Aristotle  it  may  be  answered,  a  clearer, 
truer  style  would  have  made  his  work  doubly  valuable. 
He  is  his  own  best  refutation.  As  to  Paul,  while  he 
allowed  himself  some  digressions  and  some  obscurities, 
so  that  unquestionable  defects  may  be  seen  in  his  style, 
yet  be  it  remembered  he  himself  distinctly  said,  "I 
had  rather  speak  five  words  with  my  understanding, 
that  I  might  teach  others  also,  than  ten  thousand 
words  in  a  tongue."  And  again  :  "  Except  ye  utter  by 
the  tongue  speech  easy  to  be  understood,  how  shall  it 
be  known  what  is  spoken  ?  for  ye  will  be  speaking  into 
the  air."  Now  just  so  far  as  thought  is  conveyed  in 
words  not  fully  understood,  it  is  conveyed  in  an  un- 
known tongue.  As  to  Pascal,  his  word  is  simply 
rhetorical  extravagance. 

But,  after  all,  the  great  thing  is  to  be  powerful. 
Power  is  the  attribute  crowning  all  a  minister's  ac- 
complishments. Write  as  Paul  did,  if  thereby  you  can 
be  as  mighty  as  he.  If  the  mere  blind,  unstudied 
promptings  of  your  nature  lead  you  to  effective  speech, 
let  the  study  of  style  go.  So  that  the  e7id  is  reached, 
it  matters  little  by  what  way.  Drive  truth  home  as 
Paul  did,  go  triumphing  everywhere  in  Christ  as  he 


384  The  Sermon 

did,  and  nothing  more  need  be  said.  But  the  question 
is,  Will  you  do  it  ?  Will  a  man  carry  as  heavy  a  load 
when  it  is  flapping  about  loosely  as  when  it  is  packed 
and  adjusted? 

(c)  Once  more :  It  is  objected  that  few  hearers 
know  what  good  style  is,  and  hence  time  here  spent  is 
time  wasted. 

But  the  object  is  not  to  impress  hearers  with  the 
style,  but  with  the  truth.  If  their  attention  is  drawn 
to  the  style,  then  the  style  is  defective.  The  purest 
atmosphere  is  that  which  brings  out  the  stars,  not  that 
which  preaches  itself.  If  the  preacher's  object  be  to 
win  admiration  for  his  chaste  and  perfect  form  of 
speech,  then  the  objection  might  hold  good,  and  the 
fact  that  few  in  any  congregation  can  appreciate  a 
faultless  style,  would  be  a  reason  for  not  spending  much 
time  in  its  cultivation.  But  if  the  art  of  verbal  ex- 
pression be  studied  for  truth^s  sake,  so  as  to  render 
thought  as  perfectly  as  possible,  and  this  end  be  really 
secured,  so  that  men  take  in  the  thought  without  ef- 
fort just  as  they  see  the  stars  on  the  clearest  night, 
what  does  it  matter  whether  fifty  hearers,  or  five, 
know  anything  of  good  style.  Keep  it  constantly  in 
mind  that  expression  is  to  be  studied,  not  for  the  sake 
of  expression,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  idea,  embosomed 
in  expression. 

lY.     The  different  properties  of  style. 

(1)  The  fundamental  property  is  this:  that  the 
style  he  true — true  to  the  thought,  true  to  the  thinker. 
This  is  comprehensive  of  many  other  properties  ordi- 
narily enumerated  in  works  on  rhetoric.  And  all  other 
properties  are  important  as  they  have  this  for  a  base. 
Without  this  essential  merit,  speech  is  a  deception. 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  385 

(2)  The  absolute  properties  pertain  to  language  it- 
self. They  are  iixed  and  inflexible,  independent  of 
speaker  or  subject.  They  are  determined  to  style  by 
the  unchangeable  laws  of  language.  They  are  chiefly 
oral  and  grammatical,  and  are  founded  on  accent,  pitch, 
the  sounds  of  words,  their  forms,  their  connection  and 
their  meaning.  They  are  usually  denominated  eu- 
phony, harmony,  rhythm,  and  grammatical  purity. 

The  place  for  their  discussion  is  in  a  work  on  rhet- 
oric. But  perhaps  it  should  be  said  with  reference  to 
grammatical  purity,  that  proximate  standard  is  good 
use,  which  is  opposed  to  obsolete  use,  provincial  use, 
individual  use,  and  foreign  use,  or  use  derived  from 
another  language.  The  sanction  making  good  use 
should  be  wide^  reputable^ present.  Where  use  is  clearly 
divided,  the  preponderance  should  be  given  to  the 
greater  weight  of  authority. 

(3)  The  relative  properties  of  style  are  various.  Our 
discussion  must  be  limited  to  the  leading  properties  in 
this  class,  and  that  have  peculiar  relation  to  the  pulpit. 
They  2iVQ  perspicuity,  precision,  energy,  and  beauty. 

'    Perspicuity 

1.  Its  nature.  We  preach  to  benefit  men.  Men 
can  be  benefited  only  by  the  truth.  To  benefit  by 
the  truth,  truth  must  be  made  intelligible.  The  qual- 
ity in  style  that  makes  truth  intelligible  is  therefore 
the  prime  quality.  It  is  of  first  importance  in  all  dis- 
course. This  quality  is  perspicuity.  It  is  the  Latin 
word  perspicuitas  transferred  almost  bodily  to  our 
language,  and  means,  of  course,  as  its  etymology  indi- 
cates, transparency.  It  is  the  quality  of  being  seen 
through,  and  as  applied  to  style  means  a  style  in  which 


386  The  Sermon 

there  is  no  obscurity ;  which  lets  the  hearer  see  the 
thought  just  as  the  thinker  thinks  it. 

Clearly  this  is  at  the  foundation  of  all  effective 
style.  Style  should  be  stripped  of  everything — cut 
and  pruned  rigorously  and  remorselessly  until  it  ex- 
hibits the  exact  reality  of  the  thought  it  embodies,  and 
so  carry  that  thought  straight  to  the  understanding. 
Why  speak  at  all  if  we  do  not  speak  to  be  understood  ? 
Of  what  use  a  body  that  lets  no  soul  through  it?  The 
contemptible  affectation  that  would  avoid  plain,  sim- 
ple speech  and  clothe  thoughts  in  large  and  high-sound- 
ing words,  and  interlard  discourse  with  unfamiliar, 
foreign  and  classic  phrase,  for  the  sake  of  producing 
the  impression  of  learning  and  profundity,  ought  to  be 
despised  by  every  preacher  of  God's  truth.  It  is  the 
resort  of  shallow  minds.  They  stir  up  the  mud  so  that 
no  one  may  see  the  bottom  of  their  shallowness.  Un- 
educated minds  are  imposed  upon  by  the  obscurity, 
mistaking  it  for  something  profound.  But  the  best 
hearers  discover  the  superficiality  and  are  disgusted 
with  the  affectation.  But  even  if  the  device  were 
wholly  successful,  what  a  miserable  and  shameful  re- 
sort for  men  commissioned  of  God  to  teach^  where 
teaching  may  be  decisive  of  eternal  destiny  !  ^ 

When  a  man  is  obscure,  because  of  his  subject — be- 
yond the  intellectual  grasp  of  his  audience — it  is  an 
impeachment  of  his  judgment.  Such  an  obscurity 
saves  his  honesty,  because  the  obscurity  is  not  assumed 
for  the  sake  of  false  impression  ;  but  it  is  a  reflection 
on  his  common  sense.  Gospel  themes  should  be 
adapted  to  the  comprehension  of  the  hearers.  An  il- 
literate, uncultivated  congregation,  unused  to  evangel- 

» 1  Cor.  14  :  9, 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  387 

ical  preachiiif^,  needs  to  be  instructed  in  the  first 
principles  of  the  Gospel — to  be  fed  on  the  milk  of  the 
Word.  The  deeper,  harder,  more  difficult  subjects 
should  not  be  discussed  before  babes. 

But  it  is  perspicuity  of  style^  rather  than  of  subject, 
with  which  we  have  now  to  do.  And  there  is  no 
property  of  style  so  desirable,  so  absolutely  essential. 
Energy  and  brilliancy,  vividness  and  elegance  are  im- 
portant, and  they  demand  and  should  have  diligent 
cultivation,  but  never,  until  a  speaker  has  laid  the 
foundation  for  them  in  cleaimess.  Of  what  worth  are 
force  and  beauty,  so  long  as  a  man  is  not  intelligible  ! 
Nay,  how  is  force  possible  where  one  is  not  under- 
stood !  How  much  power  over  an  audience  has  a  man 
speaking  in  an  unknown  tongue  ?^ 

Aim,  then,  at  perspicuity.  Before  all  else  seek 
simplicity.  Be  determined  that  your  hearers  shall 
understand  you,  that  not  a  soul  shall  be  left  in  doubt 
of  your  meaning.  Sacrifice  the  choicest  sentence,  give 
up  the  finest  word,  let  the  glittering  beauties  go  that 
look  so  fair  to  you,  hew  away  at  your  style  at  what- 
ever cost,  until  you  make  it  so  transparent  that  your 
whole  thought  will  go  right  through  it  and  strike^  im- 
pressing other  minds  just  as  it  impresses  yours.     Fichte 

*  We  have  all  read  of  the  old  Scotchman  who  did  not  like  plain 
speech,  but  was  happiest  when  he  encountered  a  man  who  could 
*'  joomble  the  reason,  and  confoond  the  judgment."  Per  contra,  here 
is  an  incident  concerning  Dr.  N.  S.  S.  Beman,  which  I  had  from  his 
own  lips  while  associated  with  him  as  Junior  Colleague  at  Tioy.  The 
Troy  Presbytery  met  somewhere  in  the  far  North  woods.  And  the 
region  was  all  agog  to  hear  the  famous  Trojan  preacher.  When  he 
had  finished  his  sermon,  and  the  congregation  was  dismissed,  an  old 
woman  walked  out  of  church,  saying,  "La  me  !  Is  that  your  great 
Dr.  Beman  ?      Why,  I  could  understand  every  word  be  said." 


388  A  The  Sermon 

once  wrote  a  philosophical  tract  entitled  :  ''  An  effort 
to  compel  the  reader  to  understand."  A  preacher 
must  not  only  have  ideas ;  he  7riust  make  his  hearer's 
have  them.  He  must  compel  the  contact  of  his  ideas 
with  their  minds  by  a  style  so  clear,  so  perspicuous, 
that  men  cannot  listen  to  his  words  and  fail  of  his 
thought. 

2.  There  are  special  reasons  for  perspicuity  in  the 
pulpit : 

{a)  The  dominant  thing  in  preaching  is  instruction 
in  order  to  conviction  and  "persuasion.  But  how  is  in- 
struction possible,  where  the  instructor  is  not  under- 
stood ?  What  power  can  the  preacher  have  to  per- 
suade men  and  influence  their  wills,  if  he  is  not  clear  ? 
There  may  be  obscurity  in  the  poet,  the  painter,  the 
sculptor,  for  their  end  is  not  persuasion  but  pleasure. 
But  the  discourse  of  the  preacher  should  be  as  clear  as 
sunlight,  for  he  seeks  to  move  men  by  the  truth.  And 
the  souls  of  men  will  never  yield  to  the  truth,  while 
they  are  engaged  in  the  labour  of  understanding  what 
is  spoken.  The  effort  on  the  part  of  the  hearer  to 
understand  keeps  the  truth  from  grappling  with  the 
conscience  and  prevents  its  full  effect  on  the  heart. 

(5)  A  second  special  reason  for  perspicuity  in  the 
pulpit  is,  that  obscurity  may  mislead.  And  to  mislead 
here  is  perilous.  It  may  prove  of  infinite  consequence. 
As  we  value  men's  souls  we  must  speak  plainly  on 
these  things.  The  heart  is  prone  to  pervert  the  truth 
of  God.  The  preacher  must  see  to  it  that  he  furnishes 
no  excuse  for  this  guilty  perversion.  If  a  physician's 
prescription  should  be  written  with  care  and  clearness, 
lest  a  poison  be  administered  for  medicine,  how  ought 
clearness  to  be  studied  by  the  man  of  God,  lest  he  be 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  389 

misunderstood,  and  mislead  a  soul  to  its  hurt  and 
ruin. 

(c)  A  third  special  reason  for  perspicuity  in  the 
pulpit  is  the  variety  of  mental  capacity  for  compre- 
hending truth  that  is  found  in  almost  every  congrega- 
tion. It  is  rarely  a  select  audience  of  picked  minds. 
The  scientist  writes  for  those  more  or  less  familiar 
with  his  work.  lie  addresses  persons  of  some  degree 
of  mental  maturity.  But  the  preacher  addresses  all 
classes  of  minds,  and  all  degrees  of  culture.  The 
children,  the  uneducated,  the  ignorant,  the  dull,  and 
lethargic  in  thought,  as  well  as  the  educated  and  in- 
telligent— persons  of  every  grade  of  intellect,  and  of 
every  age  of  life, — wait  on  his  ministry.  Above  all 
others,  therefore,  the  preacher  is  solemnly  bound  to 
use  great  plainness  of  speech,  so  that  he  may  feed  the 
whole  flock.  He  should  strive  after  clearness  as  the 
supreme  attainment  in  style. 

3.     Means  for  the  attainment  of  perspicuity  : 

(a)  First  of  all  the  thought  must  he  clear  to  the 
preacher.  Clear  conception  is  vital  to  clear  expres- 
sion. The  man  who  does  not  distinctl}''  grasp  his  own 
thought,  will  find  no  words  to  make  it  plain  to  others. 
By  what  possibility  can  he  give  what  he  does  not 
possess  ! 

(h)  The  looking  at  one's  style  from  the  hearer^ s 
point  of  view  will  also  help  to  perspicuity.  The 
preacher  must  put  himself,  as  far  as  possible,  in  the 
hearer's  place  and  then  ask  himself  :  "  If  I  were  in 
his  place,  with  his  limitations,  would  this  sentence 
be  perfectly  plain  to  me  ?  "  Perspicuity  in  style  must 
have  respect  to  the  condition  and  posture  of  the 
hearer — to  the  circumstances  of  the  common  mind ;  and 


390  ^The  Sermon 

the  difficulties  of  that  mind  in  grasping  truth  must,  as 
far  as  possible,  be  anticipated  and  provided  for. 

{c)  The  cultivation  of  precision — exactness  in  the 
use  of  words.  The  study  of  words,  with  reference  to 
their  precise  shade  of  meaning  and  the  constant  choice 
of  them,  based  upon  this  difference,  will  go  far  to  give 
perspicuity  to  style.  There  are  no  two  words  of 
exactly  the  same  signification  in  our  language.  And 
if  there  were,  it  would  be  every  man's  duty  to  deny 
one  of  them  a  place  in  good  society.  No  language  can 
be  enriched  by  the  superfluous. 

Regard  for  precision  (1)  will  prevent  the  use  of 
the  same  word  in  two  senses  in  the  same  connection  ; 
(2)  will  prevent  the  use  of  a  word  in  such  a  connec- 
tion that  it  may  have  two  meanings ;  (3)  will  prevent 
the  use  of  a  general  word  when  something  specific  is 
meant.  Precision  will  weed  discourse  of  everything 
ambiguous  or  equivocal — and  so  serve  to  make  style 
perspicuous. 

(d)  A  further  means  of  perspicuity  is  the  proper 
arrangement  of  words  and  sentences.  This  gives  each 
paragraph,  each  sentence,  each  word,  its  true  place, 
which  must  of  course  contribute  greatly  to  clearness. 
In  fact,  the  utmost  exactness  of  expression  will  be  of 
little  avail  in  conveying  the  thought,  without  effective 
order  of  arrangement.  The  use  of  relative  words 
often  leads  to  obscurity,  because  their  place  in  the 
sentence  leaves  it  doubtful  as  to  what  they  refer. 
The  pronouns  who,  which,  and  that  are  frequently  so 
far  from  their  antecedents,  as  to  lead  to  ambiguity  or 
obscurity.  In  reading,  one  can  study  out  the  con- 
nection, until  it  is  made  clear.  But  in  listening  to  a 
speaker  this  is  impossible.     The  connection  must  be 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  391 

apparent,  or  it  is  lost  altogether ;  for  the  sentence  or 
paragraph  perishes  with  its  utterance.  The  proper 
handling  of  relative  words  is  therefore  of  great  im- 
portance, in  order  to  clearness. 

The  particular  should  precede  that  which  is  more 
general. 

Modifying  words  should  be  kept  in  close  proximity 
with  the  words  to  which  they  belong. 

Ordinarily,  the  verb  should  lie  between  its  subject 
and  object.  ^ 

The  sense  should  not  be  too  long  suspended.  Break 
up  a  sentence,  rather  than  introduce  long  parenthet- 
ical clauses.  Change  clauses  into  complete  and 
separate  sentences,  rather  than  drive  on  a  whole 
flock  of  clauses  to  the  close  of  a  single  sentence. 

{e)  A  fifth  means  of  perspicuity  is  reading ^erspicuS 
ous  authors.  Paley  is  an  example  of  directness  and  clear- 
ness. Baxter  and  Bunyan  and  Franklin  are  remarkable 
for  their  simplicity.  Kobert  Hall  is  always  clear,  while 
characterized  by  energy  and  eloquence.  Theodore  Par- 
ker is  crisp  and  sharp.  You  cannot  fail  to  understand 
him.  Studiously  avoid  Hooker  and  Barrow  and  Jeremy 
Taylor  and  Chalmers  and  Melville  and  Storrs  and  such 
like,  as  writers  whose  style  is  unworthy  of  any  imita- 
tion, until  you  have  laid  for  yourself  broad  and  deep 
i\\.h  foundation  of  style — perspicuity. 

If  you  are  already  stilted,  florid,  obscure,  ambitious, 
high-sounding,  a  solicitous  student  of  fine  expressions, 

'  "  And  thus  the  son  the  sire  addressed." 
*'  The  duke  yet  lives  that  Henry  shall  depose." 
"  I  declare  thee,  O  Pyrrbus,  the  Romans  to  be  able  to  conquer." 

It  is  impossible  to  determine,  in  these  separate  sentences,  which  is 
subject  and  which  is  object. 


39^  ^    The  Sermon 

a  lover  of  gaudy  verbosity,  taken  with  the  trumpery 
and  moonshine  of  superficial  rhetoric,  get  off  your 
high  horse  at  once.  Do  not  disdain  to  go  on  foot. 
Come  down  to  the  pedestrian  style.  Speak  your 
thought  in  the  simplest,  clearest,  most  straightfor- 
ward way.  Let  the  imbecile  elegancies  of  Blair,  says 
Dr.  Alexander,  be  an  everlasting  beacon  to  the  student 
of  homiletics.  Say  '^  life,"  instead  of  "  the  vital 
principle";  "heat,"  instead  of  "caloric";  "teach," 
instead  of  "  inculcate  "  ;  "  yield,"  instead  of  "  suc- 
cumb "  ;  "  blame,"  instead  of  "  inculpate  "  ;  "  lost 
soul,"  instead  of  "  ruined  immortality."  And  if  you 
have  occasion  to  remind  your  hearers  that  there  is  not 
one  Gospel  for  the  rich  and  another  for  the  poor,  do 
not  inform  them,  as  a  young  preacher  once  did  his 
hearers,  "  that  if  they  would  not  be  saved  on  general 
principles,  they  would  not  be  saved  at  all."  By  all 
means,  and  before  all  else,  be  perspicuous.^ 

Precision 
If  style  is   the   body  of  thought,  it  is  something 

*  For  clear,  vivid  description,  the  fight  of  Christian  with  Apollyon 
outmatches  any  other  of  its  kind  in  literature.  Here  is  a  sample  of 
its  plainness,  vividness,  and  strength,  telling  of  the  beginning  of  the 
fight :  "  Then  Apollyon  straddled  quite  over  the  whole  of  the  breadth 
of  the  way,  and  said,  '  I  am  void  of  fear  in  this  matter  ;  prepare  thyself 
to  die  ;  for  I  swear  by  my  infernal  Den  that  thou  shalt  go  no  farther ; 
but  here  I  will  spill  thy  soul.'  " 

The  Simplicity  of  Greatness. — Many  years  ago  the  licentiates  of 
Princeton  Seminary  were  in  the  habit  of  preaching  at  a  station  some 
distance  from  that  place.  Among  their  habitual  hearers  was  a  sincere 
and  humble,  but  uneducated  Christian  slave,  called  Uncle  Sam,  who 
on  his  return  home  would  try  to  tell  his  mistress  what  he  could  re- 
member of  the  sermon,  but  complained  that  the  students  were  too 
deep  and  learned  for  him.     One  day,  however,  he  came  home  in  great 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  393 

more  than  a  medium.  It  needs  therefore  some  other 
property  besides  clearness  or  transparency.  Body  must 
have/b^^m,  distinctness  of  outline,  what  is  here  termed 
Precision.  We  see  through  the  style  when  it  is  per- 
spicuous, as  we  see  through  the  clear  air,  or  through 
transparent  glass.  But  style  does  more  than  reveal, 
it  bounds  and  limits,  gives  fullness  and  definiteness  of 
form.  Thoughts  need  not  only  to  be  seen  through  a 
clear  medium,  they  must  have  distinct  shape,  be  clear 
cut  and  sharp  in  outline.  Precision  is  the  property 
in  style  that  gives  thoughts  this  form.  It  forbids 
alike  the  use  of  what  is  superfluous,  and  the  omission 
of  what  is  necessary.  It  has  respect  to  the  number 
of  words,  while  perspicuity  has  respect  to  the  kind 
and  order  of  words.  It  not  only  limits  words  in  a 
sentence,  but  sentences  in  a  paragraph.  It  is  the 
judicious  mingling  of  conciseness  and  amplification. 

Style  may  be  perspicuous,  as  clear  as  the  purest  air, 
every  word  used  with  such  precision,  and  in  such 
order,  as  to  leave  nothing  ambiguous  or  confused, 
yet  it  may  have  superfluous  detail,  not  clouding  the 
meaning,  but  taking  away  the  sharp,  clear  edge  of 
the  thought,  so  that  it  does  not  appear  in  vivid,  living 
form. 

This  property  of  style  may  be  illustrated  by  a  refer- 
ence to  scene-painting.  There  the  artist  throws  aside 
the  detail  of  miniature.     He  seeks  bold  outline.     His 

good  humour,  saying  that  a  poor  unlarnt  old  man,  just  like  himself, 
had  preached  that  day,  who  he  supposed  was  hardly  fit  to  preach  to 
the  white  people  ;  but  he  was  glad  he  came,  for  his  sake,  for  he  could 
remember  everything  he  had  said.  On  inquiry,  it  was  found  that 
Uncle  Sam's  "unlarnt"  old  preacher  was  Rev.  Dr.  Archibald  Alex- 
ander, who,  when  he  heard  the  criticism,  said  it  was  the  highest  com- 
pliment ever  paid  to  his  preaching. 


394  X  The  Sermon 

pencil  strokes  bring  out  the  salient  features  and  give 
distinctness  of  form.  An  instant  and  vivid  impression 
is  his  object ;  that  which  may  be  caught  at  a  glance. 
For  the  scenes  are  constantly  shifting,  and  the  minute 
elaboration  of  cabinet  painting  would  fail  of  the  defi- 
nite effect  of  this  boldness  of  outline  in  scenic  repre- 
sentation. 

Now  the  orator,  the  preacher,  is  a  verbal  scene- 
painter.  He  speaks  for  immediate  impression.  His 
thouofht  cannot  be  studied.  It  should  strike  the  ear 
and  the  mind  on  the  instant,  just  as  scene-painting 
strikes  the  eye.  A  vivid  style  will  thus  flash  his 
thought  out  to  his  hearers.  It  w411  be  bold  word- 
painting.  It  will  not  tolerate  verbosity,  however 
clear.  It  will  allow  no  elaboration  not  requisite  to 
distinctness  of  form.  It  will  rigorously  check  de- 
viations, diversions,  flights  of  any  kind,  however  ex- 
quisite in  themselves,  that  do  not  vivify  the  main 
thought  with  bold  and  living  outline. 

This  property  of  style  requires  the  right  use  of 
hrevity  and  expansion.  We  may  abbreviate  to  ob- 
scurity. We  may  expand  to  prolixity.  The  happy 
mien  gives  precision.  Not  as  brief  as  possible.  But 
the  briefer  the  better,  so  that  the  thought  be  given 
distinct  form — a  kind  of  living  embodiment.  Ex- 
treme conciseness  brings  a  too  swift  succession. 
There  is  not  a  sufficient  detention  of  the  thought  be- 
fore the  mind,  to  enable  the  mind  fully  to  apprehend 
it.  The  scene  must  tarry  till  the  mind  has  taken  it 
in,  but  as  it  is  a  moving^  shifting  scene,  on  its  passage, 
there  must  be  nothing  for  the  mind  to  take  in,  save 
what  is  essential  to  the  complete  apprehension  of  the 
idea.     A  wearisome  prolixity  is  even  worse  than  un- 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  395 

due  brevity.  For  the  preacher  is  an  orator.  And 
every  oration  is  essentially  a  movement^  a  progress, 
each  part  of  it  a  step  towards  the  determined  end.  It 
should  be  on  wheels,  not  on  a  pivot :  going  forward, 
not  in  a  circle,  the  thought  kept  just  long  enough  be- 
fore the  mind  for  its  thorough  apprehension.  Vivid- 
ness lies  between  a  too  terse,  compact  style  and  mere 
multiplication  of  words — mere  verboseness.  Barrow 
was  the  compactest  of  sermonizers,  and  so  no  ordinary 
congregation  could  keep  up  with  him.  It  was  some- 
times like  hearing  read  aloud  the  solution  of  some  diffi- 
cult problem  in  mathematics,  to  hear  one  of  his  sermons, 
compressing,  as  they  sometimes  did,  into  the  fewest 
possible  words  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  thought. 

To  steer  clear  of  this  Scylla,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  avoid  the  whirling  Charybdis  of  useless  verbiage 
and  tiresome  expansion,  let  there  be  hrief  repetition 
and  apt  illustration.  Brief  repetition  in  the  same,  or 
somewhat  different  form  will  detain  the  thought  and 
round  it  out  and  give  it  definiteness.  A  great  advo- 
cate once  repeated  an  argument  so  many  times,  in  his 
address  to  the  jury,  that  the  judge  called  him  to  ac- 
count. "  My  learned  brother,"  said  he,  "  you  have 
repeated  that  eleven  times  already."  "  True,  my  lord," 
was  the  reply,  "  but  your  lordship  must  remember  that 
there  are  twelve  men  on  the  jury."  Of  course, 
it  will  not  do  to  repeat  to  the  number  of  our  hearers  ; 
but  it  is  a  virtue  to  reiterate  one's  meaning  where 
the  point  is  important  and  the  statement  concise  ;  and 
by  varying  the  form  of  the  thought  to  make  sure  the 
hearer  gets  it. 

Apt  illustration  will  also  flash  a  truth  to  the  hearer, 
where   extended   and   prolix  elucidation  will  utterly 


396  ^   The  Sermon 

fail.     It  sharply  outlines  a  thought,  as  no  multiplica- 
tion of  words  possibly  can  outline  it. 

It  is  only  in  the  proper  handling  of  conciseness  and 
expansion,  omitting  nothing  necessary  and  discarding 
everything  superfluous,  that  we  secure  vividness  •  or 
that  property  of  style  which  gives  to  thought  a  distinct 
and  living  form. 

Energy 

This  is  the  property  in  style  which  gives  it  force. 
Perspicuity  reveals  the  thought  to  the  hearer.  Pre- 
cision gives  to  thought  fullness  and  definiteness  of 
form.  Energy  makes  it  impinge,  or  strike  the  hearer's 
mind  with  power.  It  is  force  in  style,  strength,  vim, 
the  quality  that  compels  movement  and  gives  momen- 
tum to  thought,  as  it  passes  from  speaker  to  hearer. 

In  order  to  energy  of  style,  there  must  be  (1)  energy 
in  the  man.  He  must  be  energized,  if  his  style 
is  ever  to  be  energized.  There  may  be  an  affectation 
of  energy  in  style,  but  it  will  be  the  ass  in  a  lion's 
skin,  easily  detected.  Energy,  put  on,  is  the  most 
miserable  of  affectations.  Forceful  speech  is  born  of 
forceful  soul.  And  the  soul  of  man  is  mighty,  just  as 
it  is  possessed,  energized,  and  made  mighty  by  some 
object  of  thought.  There  is  nothing  so  stimulative,  so 
energizing,  as  the  truths  of  the  Gospel.  As  these 
are  taken  into  the  mind,  and  firmly  and  clearly 
grasped,  permeating  the  man's  moral,  as  well  as  his 
mental  nature,  will  he  become  energetic.  And  the 
energy  of  his  spirit  will  then  flow  out  into  his  style 
and  make  that  forceful  and  mighty. 

First  of  all,  then,  if  one  would  have  energy  of  style, 
he  must  get  the  substance  of  revelation  inwoven  into 
the   very  texture  of  his  spirit.     He  must  get  imbued 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  397 

with  the  living  Word,  if  he  would  make  Biblical 
knowledge  not  simply  an  intellectual  perception  and  a 
memory,  but  a  profound  experience.  The  men  of  in- 
tense speech  are  the  men  of  intense  conviction.  When 
the  feelings  are  strong,  they  will  naturally  find 
energetic  expression.  Words  will  be  "  winged  and 
armed."  Speech  will  be  a  real  action  of  will  on  will 
— a  bearing  in  on  men  to  carry  their  judgments  and 
their  hearts.  Energy  thus  becomes  *'  the  life  of  elo- 
quence— that  which  gives  it  breath  and  fire  and  power." 
It  subdues  men  by  a  mastery  which  the  preacher  him- 
self acknowledges.  It  is  not  he,  but  the  truth,  that 
possesses  him.  The  words  he  speaks  unto  men,  "  they 
are  spirit  and  they  are  life."  His  mission  is  to  lay 
hold  of  the  perishing.  And  if  in  the  closet  he  pleads 
with  God  with  wrestling  energy  of  spirit,  in  the  pulpit 
he  will  plead  with  men  with  wrestling  energy  of  style. 

(2)  Energy  in  style  comes  from  directness,  con-\ 
ciseness.  When  we  are  bent  on  the  accomplishment 
of  an  object,  we  seek  the  shortest  road.  Curves  and 
circumlocutions  retard  movement.  Brevit}^  helps  en- 
ergy. It  reaches  the  end  sooner.  The  thought  is  more 
swift  and  strikes  with  greater  power  therefore.  If  you. 
wish  to  deliver  an  energetic  blow,  you  strip  the  branch 
of  its  foliage  and  make  it  a  naked  club.  Hence  the  sen- 
tentiousness  of  proverbs.  They  are  short,  sharp,  de- 
cisive. Much  is  crowded  into  little  and  every  word  tells.^ 

*  Sydney  Smith's  advice  is:  "Run  your  pen  through  every  other 
word  you  have  vrritten ;  you  have  no  idea  what  vigour  it  will  give 
your  style." 

Here  is  another  protest  against  too  many  words.  It  is  rough  but 
pointed. 

"  When  you've  got  a  thing  to  say, 
Say  it  I    Don't  take  half  a  day.  / 


398  >    The  Sermon 

Words  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin  favour  directness  and 
therefore  energy,  because  they  are  often  shorter,  more 
specific,  and  have  greater  power  of  association.  Anglo- 
Saxon  grew  sadly  out  of  fashion  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  through  the  influence  of  Johnson  and  Blair. 
They  were  made  models  for  the  English  pulpit,  and  its 
style  was  sadly  vitiated  and  enervated  by  the 
sesquipedalia  verba  of  the  one  and  the  '*  imbecile  ele- 
gancies of  the  other.  Dr.  Johnson's  sonorous  sen- 
tences took  the  fancy  of  declaimers,  and  they  forsook 
the  pure  Anglo-Saxon  for  his  magniloquence.  Ma- 
caulay  brings  out  the  contrast  in  a  fine  example  from 
Johnson  himself,  whose  style  in  familiar  intercourse 
was  often  quite  the  opposite  of  that  he  used  in  his 
more  studied  papers.  In  one  of  his  familiar  letters  he 
says :  "  When  we  were  taken  up-stairs  a  dirty  fellow 
bounced  out  of  the  bed  on  which  one  of  us  was  to  lie." 
But  in  recording  the  same  incident  in  his  *'  Journey  to 
the  Hebrides,"  he  says  :  "  Out  of  one  of  the  beds,  on 
which  we  were  to  repose,  started  up  at  our  entrance 
a  man  black  as  a  Cyclops  from  the  forge."  He  once 
said  of  a  periodical,  "  It  has  not  wit  enough  to  keep  it 
sweet,"  and  then,  as  if  he  had  committed  an  offense 
by   such  plain,    terse   speech,  he  added :    "  It  has  not 


/ 


\ 


When  j'our  tale's  got  little  in  it, 
Crowd  the  whole  thing  in  a  minute. 
Life  is  short — a  fleeting  vapour — 
Don't  you  fill  an  eight-page  paper 
With  a  tale,  which,  at  a  pinch, 
Could  be  cornered  in  an  inch  ! 
Boil  her  down  until  she  simmers ; 
Polish  her  until  she  glimmers. 
When  you've  got  a  thing  to  say, 
Say  it !    Don't  take  half  a  day." 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  399 

vitality  enough  to  preserve  it  from  putrefaction."  It 
is  worth  our  while,  now  and  then,  to  sacrilice  a  little 
dignity  on  the  altar  of  plain  and  pungent  speech. 

The  Scriptures  are  rich  with  energetic  Anglo-Saxon. 
And  Dr.  Shedd  says  they  do  not  contain  a  single  ab- 
straction. Certainly  they  are  specific  rather  than 
generic,  and  hence  they  are  full  of  a  living  energy. 
Take  this  example  :  "  There  is  no  work  in  the  grave 
whither  thou  goesf^  How  terse  and  strong  it  is.  But 
paraphrase  it,  after  the  manner  of  some  modem 
preachers,  and  read :  "  There  is  no  possibility  of  ac- 
tivity in  the  grave  whither  thou  art  wending." 
Again :  "If  God  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field."  What 
strength  and  directness  !  But  read  :  "If  an  overruling 
Providence  so  adorn  the  vegetable  productions  of  the 
field,"  what  weakness  and  verbosity  ! 

Dr.  Gregory,  the  writer  of  Dr.  Hall's  life,  says  :  "  In 
one  of  my  early  interviews  with  Mr.  Hall,  I  used  the 
word  *  felicity,'  three  or  four  times  in  quick  succession. 
He  asked,  '  Why  do  you  say  "  felicity,"  sir  ?  Happi- 
ness is  a  better  word,  more  musical  and  idiomatic  Eng- 
lish, coming  from  the  Saxon.'  '  Not  more  musical,  I 
think,  sir.'  '  Yes,  more  musical,  and  so  are  words  de- 
rived from  the  Saxon  generally.  Listen,  sir :  "  My 
heart  is  smitten  and  withered  liJce  grass^  There's 
plaintive  music  !  Listen  again,  "  Under  the  shadow  of 
thy  wings  will  I  rejoieey  '  '  Yes,  but  "  rejoice  "  is 
French.'  '  True,  but  all  the  rest  is  Saxon,  and  "  re- 
joice "  is  almost  out  of  tune  with  the  other  words. 
Listen  again :  "  Thou  hast  delivered  my  soul  from 
death,  my  eyes  from  tears  and  my  feet  from  falling. ^^ ' 
^  All  Saxon,  sir,  except  "  delivered."  I  could  think  on 
the  word,  "  tears,"  until  I  wept. 


)  )j 


400  The  Sermon 

The  English  Archbishop  Sharpe  (d.  1714)  advised  all 
young  divines  to  combine  the  reading  of  Shakespeare 
with  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  he  is  credited 
with  the  declaration  that  the  Bible  and  Shakespeare 
made  him  Archbishop  of  York. 

(3)  Energy  in  style  comes  also  from  the  itse  of 
figures  of  speech^  especially  tropes.  Metonymy  im- 
parts energy  to  style  by  representing  the  object  so  as 
to  individualize  it,  making  one  word  stand  for  another, 
cause  for  effect,  container  for  thing  contained,  etc.,  as 
sceptre  instead  of  dominion,  Milton  instead  of  his 
writings  or  poems,  the  crescent  instead  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan power,  the  grave  instead  of  death. 

Metaphors  conduce  to  energy.  They  give  an  ani- 
mation and  vigour  unmistakably  felt  in  public  dis- 
course. David,  describing  his  slanderous  enemies,  says : 
*•'  Their  teeth  are  spears  and  arrows  and  their  tongue 
a  sharp  sword."  How  this  energetic  speech  sinks  to 
tameness  and  feebleness  by  making  David  say  of  his 
enemies,  *'  The  slanders  of  their  tongues  cut  and 
mangle  a  good  name,  as  spears  and  arrows  and  a 
sword  lacerate  and  mangle  the  body." 

Comparisons  contribute  to  energy  if  they  are  brief. 
If  elaborate,  they  weaken  rather  than  strengthen  style, 
and  draw  attention  from  the  subject  to  the  comparison 
itself.  Jeremy  Taylor  was  copious  in  comparisons 
with  great  amplification  and  beauty,  but  it  would  be 
dangerous  to  imitate  this  "  poet  of  theology."  And 
even  the  extended  comparisons  of  his  gifted  genius 
are  far  less  effective  than  the  brief,  terse  comparisons 
of  Scripture.  Take  his  "  Thus  have  I  seen  a  cloud 
rolling  in  its  airy  mansion,"  or  "  So  have  I  seen  a  lark 
soaring,"  etc.,  and  contrast  it  with  John's  vision  of 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  401 

Jesus :  "  His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire,  and  His 
voice  as  the  sound  of  many  waters;  "or  with  the 
Psalmist's  description  of  the  ungodly  :  "  They  are 
like  the  chaff  which  the  wind  driveth  away."  How 
beauty  dominates  in  Taylor  and  strength  in  Scripture. 

Personification  and  apostrophe  are  figures  of  speech, 
contributing  to  vigour  in  style.  They  are  figures  of 
intense  energy,  full  of  action,  making  speech  alive. 
Thus  Shakespeare  personifies  the  morn  "  walking  o'er 
the  dew  of  a  high  eastward  hill";  and  the  Psalmist 
personifies  the  floods  lifting  up  their  voice,  and  clapping 
their  hands ;  and  the  prophet,  the  mountains  and  hills 
"  breaking  forth  into  singing." 

Apostrophe,  especially,  is  full  of  feeling  and  gives 
great  boldness  and  vigour  to  style.  But  to  be  effective, 
it  must  appear  unstudied,  the  natural  language  of 
emotion  and  perfectly  at  the  speaker's  command  and 
therefore  always  brief.  He  cuts  a  most  ridiculous 
figure  whose  e^^e  is  on  his  manuscript,  while  he  is  ad- 
dressing some  invisible  being  as  if  he  were  present. 

These  are  the  principal  sources  of  energy  in  style — 
energy  in  the  man  ;  directness  and  brevity  in  the  use 
of  specific,  vernacular  and  Anglo-Saxon  words;  and 
figures  of  speech. 

If  the  preacher  would  move  men  and  convince  their 
judgments  and  carry  their  wills,  if  he  would  bear  in  on 
them  with  persuasive  and  mighty  power,  if  he  would 
soAie  them,  he  must  toil  for  this  property  of  style.  A 
luxurious  loiterer  in  sacred  composition,  an  indulger 
in  wanton  dalliance  with  imagination,  a  dresser-up  of 
beautiful  things  and  useless  charms,  in  the  mere  and 
the  constant  effort  to  be  fine,  has  no  business  in  the 
pulpit  and  no  call  to  the  ministry. 


402  ^  The  Sermon 

Beauty 
Beauty  in  style  is  that  property  in  discourse 
which  commends  it  to  the  taste  of  the  hearer.  The 
beautiful  is  the  perfect  in  form.  As  it  respects  the 
form  of  discourse,  it  is  internal  and  generic  as  well  as 
external  and  specific. 

(1)  It  is  internal  and  generic.  It  goes  deeper  than 
embellishment.  In  this  sense,  the  whole  construction 
of  the  sermon  is  an  aesthetic  procedure.  There  are 
elements  of  beauty  that  lie  beneath  its  surface,  that 
pervade  it,  enter  into  its  entire  structure,  such  as  unity ^ 
■propriety,  tone^  simplicity.  If  these  are  not  present, 
all  the  decoration  and  studied  dress  of  thought  in  the 
world  will  not  make  discourse  beautiful. 

There  is  no  beauty  in  mere  congregated  atoms ;  in 
elements  heterogeneous  and  complex.  Assimilate  these 
elements,  combine  them,  unify  the  mass,  give  them 
tone  by  putting  into  them  a  living  energy,  make  them 
dynamic  instead  of  atomic,  and  inevitably  there  will 
be  these  three  qualities — clearness,  strength,  beauty. 
And  while  not  the  greatest  will  be  beauty,  but  rather 
the  least,  yet  beauty  will  be  present,  not  attached  from 
without,  but  developed  from  within  ;  not  extrinsic,  but 
inherent,  arising  out  of  the  very  structure  of  discourse. 

(2)  But,  secondly,  beauty  is  external  and  specific^ 
not  pertaining  to  discourse  as  a  whole — beauty  in  the 
common  acceptation  as  related  to  style.  It  is  that 
which  ornaments  and  embellishes  style,  its  decoration, 
adornment — the  flush,  the  splendour,  the  aroma  of 
style.  It  is  perspicuity,  vividness,  and  energy,  lighted 
up  and  made  a  gratification  to  assthetic  taste  by  the 
delicate  touches  of  a  playful  fancy  or  a  brilliant 
imagination. 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  403 

But  as  utility  lies  at  the  base  of  all  sacred  discourse, 
and  is  its  ouly  motive  and  end,  the  style  of  the  pulpit 
admits  of  only  useful  beauties  ;  nothing  for  mere  orna- 
ment, nothing  for  display,  in  the  mere  desire  to  please. 
The  beautiful  must  be  always  and  resolutely  sub- 
ordinated to  the  useful.  Just  as  in  architecture,  so  in 
discourse,  the  beautiful  must  be  always  developing 
and  never  running  counter  to  structure.  Language 
is  an  instrument,  not  an  end.  The  end  of  sacred 
discourse  should  have  our  chief  solicitude.  And 
beauty  in  style  should  have  our  solicitude  at  all, 
only  as  it  is  promotive  of  the  end.  Or,  as  the 
architects  have  it,  we  should  ornament  construc- 
tion, never  construct  ornament.  The  question  never 
should  be,  "  Is  this  or  that  a  striking  exjjression  f  "  but 
"  Does  it  make  the  meaning  striking  ?  "  Any  orna- 
mentation or  embellishment,  any  flowery  diction  or 
brilliant  word-painting  that  allures  the  hearer's  atten- 
tion from  the  great  object  of  discourse  to  the  beauties 
of  language  or  imagery  in  the  discourse,  is  meretricious 
and  faulty.  It  may  gratify  the  taste  and  amuse  the 
imagination,  but  it  will  never  "  call  the  conscience  to 
discharge  its  severe  and  awful  functions."  "  All 
flowers  of  language  should  spring  out  of  the  subject 
itself,  just  as  natural  flowers  spring  out  of  the  earth. 
Images  and  figures  should  be  naturally  connected  with 
the  subject,  as  a  bough  and  its  twig,  or  as  a  blossom 
and  a  leaf,  spring  necessarily,  as  it  were,  from  such  a 
particular  root,  or  such  a  stem."  ^  Let  the  preacher 
scrupulously  avoid  all  positive  blemishes  in  style,  all 
offenses  against  good  taste.  But  beware  of  betraying  a 
fondness  for  ornaments.     Blossoms  should  not  be  tied 

^Herder,  "Theologie,"  p.  71. 


404  >  The  Sermon 

to  the  apple  tree.     Oraaments    sought   for,  far  and 
wide,  and  tacked  on  to  discourse,  are  not  an  exhibition 
of  the  preacher's  subject,  but  of  the  preacher. 

In  addition  to  these  four  leading  properties  of  style 
— Perspicuity,  Precision,  Energy,  and  Beauty — there 
are  two  other  qualities  that  should  be  named  as 
especially  demanded  for  the  puljpit  : 

SCRIPTUEALNESS 

The  style  of  sacred  discourse  should  be  pervaded 
and  enriched  by  the  very  letter  of  the  Word  of  God. 
Apt  quotations  of  Scripture  should  gem  the  sermon 
and  give  it  a  distinctive  character,  as  the  preaching 
bidden  of  God,  not  in  words  which  man's  wisdom 
teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth.  The 
English  Bible  has  been  aptly  styled  a  "  well  of  old 
English  undefiled,"  and  its  very  language  should  be 
frequently  the  language  of  the  pulpit. 

But  Scripturalness  in  style  does  not  mean  simply  apt 
quotation,  for  this  could  easily  degenerate  into  mere 
pious  patchwork.  It  means  that  flavour  of  style 
which  comes  from  having  the  preacher's  soul  thor- 
oughly imhued  with  Biblical  truth.  The  expressions 
and  images  and  figures  of  the  divine  Word  should  be 
fused  into  the  discourse.  And  they  will  be,  in  exact 
proportion  to  the  preacher's  absorption  of  the  truth  of 
God  into  his  own  heart  and  life  as  a  living  energy, 
and  to  the  extent  that  he  is  steeped  and  saturated 
with  its  spirit. 

Dignified  Simplicity 

Simplicity  is  the  opposite  of  complexity,  of  artifice, 
of  vain  conceit.     It  has  respect  to  the  matter,  the 


Its  Ideal  Qualities  of  Style  405 

manner  and  the  motive  of  sacred  discourse.  A  digni- 
fied simplicity  demands  ease  and  naturalness,  the  orna- 
ments springing  spontaneously  from  the  theme,  the 
language  lifted  above  the  puerile  and  trivial.  It  for- 
bids all  pompous  periods,  all  affectation,  all  courting  a 
grin  or  breaking  a  jest  for  the  sake  of  the  grin  or  the 
jest,  all  descent  to  the  claptrap  of  the  platform  or  the 
slang  of  the  street.  It  is  appropriateness  in  speech^  as 
connected  with  the  dignities  and  sanctities  and  grand 
ends  of  the  gospel  ministry. 


XXIV 
ITS  IDEAL  DELIVEEY 


SYLLABUS 

I.  The  importance  of  a  good  delivery  in  preaching. 

II.  The  neglect  of  delivery. 

III.  The  acquisition  of  a  good  delivery. 

IV.  The  sources  of  power  in  effective  delivery. 

Posture.     Should  be  erect,  manly,  with  every  part  of  the  body  ready 
.  for  service.     Diaphragm,  lungs,  throat  must  have  free  play. 
Gesture.     1.    An  immense  aid  to  expression.     2.     Should  be  adapted 
to  the  individual.     3.     All  gesture  should  be  the  unpremeditated 
language  of  nature,  i.   e.,  it  should  not  be  gone  through  with 
before  the  mirror,  just  prior  to  public  service. 
Question  1.     But  if  fit  gesture  is  so  important,  should  it  not  be 
studied?     Certainly.     But  the  study  should  be  with  some  other  dis- 
course than  the  one  to  be  delivered,  otherwise  it  would  beget  man- 
nerism. 

Question  2.     But  are  not  the  very  faults  of  some  men  the  language 
of  nature  ?    Yes — but  nature  awry.     It  needs  to  be  made  natural. 
4.     Suggestions  for  improvement  in  gesture. 

(a)    Study  the  philosophy  of  gesture.    Note  the  action 

of  children. 
(6)     Have  an  intelligent  friend  hear  and  criticise  in 
private. 

(c)  Practice  before  the  glass.     There  the  minister  can 

see  his  awkwardness. 

(d)  Recall   the  delivery  in  some  quiet  hour  after  the 

service,  and  emphasize  anything  misplaced  or 
overdone, 
(c)     Pay  constant  heed  to  the  five  great  laws  of  gesture. 
(1)     The  law  of  motion,  (2)  of  succession ,  (3)  of 
economy,  (4)  of  consistency,  (5)  of  significance. 

Voice 

The  vital  thing  on  the  physical  side. 

1.     Every  voice  may  be  improved.     2.     Every  voice  has  a  character. 
3,    The   powers   of  the   voice.     4.    Practical   hints  in  use  of  voice. 


(a)  Begin  quietly.  (6)  Use  conversational  tone  treqnently.  (t)  For 
sympathetic  effects,  use  toues  between  base  aud  teuor.  (rf)  To  rouse 
and  tire  an  audience,  use  loud  tones  of  upper  register,  (e)  Beware  of 
sustained  loudness.  (/)  For  preserving  the  \oice  :  Good  food,  pure 
air,  deep  breathing,  vocal  exercise. 

The  intermediate  sources  of  power  in  delivery 

Emphasis  ;  oratorical  style ;  use  of  Anglo-Saxon  words ;  familiarity 
with  the  manuscript. 

Emphasis,  (a)  How  defined.  (6)  How  determined,  (c)  How 
given. 

Oratorical  style.  The  sermon  is  for  the  ear — to  be  caught  on  the 
wing.     It  is  an  address. 

Use  of  Anglo-Saxon  words.     These  have  vim,  point,  pungency. 

Familiarity  with  the  manuscript.  Helps  to  this  :  bold  hand- writing  ; 
previous  study. 

3Iental  and  spiritual  sources  of  poioer  in  delivery 

Ideas.  The  basis  of  all  effective  delivery.  Feeling :  shall  we  assume 
feeling  ?  No.  May  we  use  the  language  of  feeling  ?  Yes.  But 
argument  with  real  pathos  means  power.  How  is  feeling  to  be  culti- 
vated ?     By  reflection.     By  giving  play  to  it.     By  not  fearing  it. 

Earnestness.  1 .  Its  basis  is  profound  conviction  of  personal  respon- 
sibility to  God.  2.  The  specific  conditions  are  :  (a)  the  presence  of 
a  worthy  object  ;  (b)  an  earnest  desire  to  accomplish  it. 

But  there  can  be  no  real  earnestness  in  delivery  except  as  the 
preacher  is  an  earnest  man.  A  prevailingly  trifling  spirit  is  fatal  to  all 
earnestness. 

Authority.  This  comes  from  a  sense  of  being  God's  messenger,  and 
speaking  in  the  name  of  God  the  things  of  God. 

From  all  this  two  things  follow  :  1.  That  delivery  is  a  spiritual 
work,  needing  the  help  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  2.  That  the  preacher 
should  prepare  for  it,  by  prayer  as  well  as  by  meditation. 


XXIV 

ITS  IDEAL  DELIVERY 

OUR  consideration  of  the  "  constants  "  and  the 
"  immediates  "  in  the  preparation  of  the  ser- 
mon, and  our  weighing  in  the  scales  of  a  just 
balance  the  sermonic  qualities  of  inner  structure  and 
of  verbal  form,  have  brought  us  to  the  actual  delivery. 

Delivery  in  preaching  can  only  be  fully  treated  in  a 
work  on  elocution :  and  it  properly  belongs  there. 
But  it  is  so  vitally  connected  with  effective  pulpit  dis- 
course, that  it  demands  and  deserves  important  place 
in  any  discussion  of  an  ideal  ministry.  And  this  in- 
troductory thought  suggests  as  our  first  point  for  con- 
sideration : 

I.     The  importance  of  a  good  delivery. 

Most  men  know  soinething  of  its  importance,  and  are 
commonly  ready  to  concede  it.  Yery  few,  probably, 
have  an  adequate  conception  of  its  value.  Consult 
any  acknowledged  authority,  and  what  is  the  testi- 
mony ?  Simply  this,  in  substance  :  delivery  is  the  chief 
thing  in  eloquence.  Quintilian,  Cicero,  Demosthenes, 
Socrates,  ^schines — they  are  all  one  way.  Let  a 
word  from  Demosthenes  and  ^schines  suffice.  De- 
mosthenes, when  asked  for  the  greatest  excellence  in 
oratory,  answered  :  "  Action.^''  When  asked  for  the 
second  and  third  excellence,  he  gave  the  same  answer. 
Now,  what  he  meant — what  the  Greeks  meant — by 
action,   was  precisely   what   we    mean    by   delivery^ 

411 


412  The  Sermon 

^schines  read  at  Khodes  the  great  oration  of  Demos- 
thenes, and  his  hearers  expressing  their  unbounded 
admiration,  he  exclaimed,  *'  And  what  if  you  had 
heard  him  deliver  it  himself  !  " — thus  ascribing  the 
greatest  power  of  that  oration,  not  to  its  rhetorical 
excellence,  but  to  its  delivery. 

But  we  need  not  go  back  to  these  high  ancient 
authorities  in  proof  of  the  importance  of  a  good 
delivery.  We  all  know  of  able,  godly  men,  who  have 
been  virtually  buried  from  public  notice,  because  they 
did  not  know  how  to  give  their  thought  effective  ex- 
pression, while  others  with  half  their  intellectual 
ability,  have  wielded  prodigious  power.  Whitefield 
shook  two  continents.  But  it  was  not  by  his  sermons. 
It  was  the  way  he  delivered  them.  John  Foster  was 
one  of  the  most  unpopular  of  preachers  ;  yet  how  his 
commanding  ability  as  a  writer  has  compelled  ac- 
knowledgment. Henry  Ward  Beecher  attributed  very 
much  of  his  success  in  preaching  to  the  rare  thorough- 
ness with  which  he  had  cultivated  those  things  essen- 
tial to  good  delivery.  While  on  the  other  hand,  the 
poor  elocution  of  Dr.  Wm.  G.  Shedd,  made  the 
splendid  products  of  his  intellect  less  effective  by  his 
living  voice  than  by  the  printed  page. 

The  best  sermon  ever  written  may  be  spoiled  in  de- 
livery. A  very  inferior  sermon,  well  delivered,  will 
often  prove  more  effective  every  way  than  a  much 
abler  sermon  badly  delivered.  It  will  not  be  well, 
therefore,  for  the  preacher  with  an  affluence  of  empty 
pews  facing  him  every  Sabbath  to  lampoon  the  public 
for  running  after  the  man  of  words  "  around  the  cor- 
ner," until  and  unless  he  himself  not  only  has  ideas,  but 
knows  how  to  make  them  tell  mightily  in  public  speech. 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  413 

II.     The  neglect  of  delivery. 

It  is  painfully  manifest.  Good  speaking,  in  the  pul- 
pit, is  rare.  The  kind  often  heard  would  not  be  tol- 
erated, if  it  were  not  for  the  sacredness  of  the  theme 
and  the  office.  Hhetoric  is  taught  in  all  our  colleges. 
Elocution  has  comparatively  an  insignificant  place. 
Of  weak,  dull,  clumsy,  insipid,  drawling,  soporific,  mo- 
notonous, turgid  methods  of  delivery  in  the  pulpit,  we 
have  a  surfeit.  Of  kindling,  glowing,  natural,  ani- 
mated, forceful,  eloquent,  effective  ways  of  driving 
truth  home,  alas,  what  lack !  It  is  the  standing  re- 
proach of  the  ministry.  It  is  a  crying  evil  and  shame, 
if  not  a  positive  sin.  Men  preach  as  if  it  were  a  canon 
with  them  to  handle  the  grandest  truths  in  the  dullest 
manner ;  as  if  pulpit  utterance  needed  a  kind  of  paraly- 
sis to  keep  it  staid  and  solemn  !  Preachers  will  give 
out  these  blessed  verities  of  the  Gospel  in  a  dull  and 
dreary  wa}^  to  empty  pews,  and  attribute  the  empti- 
ness to  total  depravity  !  Now  "  total  depravity  "  has  a 
good  many  things  to  father,  but  it  isn't  the  father  of 
empty  pews.  If  such  preachers  would  alter  their 
mode  of  preaching,  and  self-deny ingly  go  to  work  to 
learn  some  of  the  ways  of  effective  public  speech,  in 
many  cases  they  would  gain  an  audience.  A  crowded 
house  may  not  be  a  proof  of  successful  preaching ;  but 
a  church  virtually  empty — the  emptiness  conspicuous 
in  great  spots — is  an  unmistakable  proof  of  something 
else  !  "What  avail  is  it  to  have  an  important  message 
to  deliver,  if  nobody  can  be  prevailed  on  to  hear  it ! 
And  where  was  ever  the  man  who  knew  how  to  say  a 
good  thing,  and  had  it  to  say,  who  failed  of  getting 
ears  to  listen  to  his  talk  !  Surely  the  neglect  of  this 
matter  is  without  apology. 


414  The  Sermon 

III.     The  acquisition  of  a  good  delivery. 

It  is  possible,  beyond  a  doubt;  except  when  the  de- 
fect is  so  radical  that  it  should  keep  one  out  of  the 
ministry  altogether. 

(a)  If  there  were  just  one  model,  and  it  were  requi- 
site for  every  man  to  conform  to  that  model  in  all  par- 
ticulars, then  most  men  might  despair  of  a  good  de- 
livery. 

To  attempt  to  change  the  whole  manner  of  one  man 
into  the  whole  manner  of  another,  would  inevitably 
result  in  that  which  is  artificial  and  false.  Good  de- 
livery is  simply  impossible  on  those  terms. 

(b)  But  effective  delivery  is  consistent  with  the 
preservation  of  the  most  marked  and  varied  individ- 
uality. Indeed,  a  man  to  be  eloquent,  Tnust  be  himself. 
This  attempt  at  servile  imitation,  this  gesturing  and 
posturing  and  vocalizing,  in  calculated  and  mechanical 
compliance  with  certain  arbitrary  rules,  has  led  to  that 
insufferable  affectation  and  mannerism  by  reason  of 
which  the  Art  of  Delivery  has  been  loaded  with  re- 
proach. With  not  one  whit  too  much  indignation, 
Cowper  says, 

"In  man  or  woman,  but  far  most  in  man, 
And  most  of  all  in  man  that  ministers 
At  the  altar,  from  my  very  soul  I  loathe 
All  affectation." 

Gladstone,  in  one  of  his  London  addresses,  thus  em- 
phasized the  value  of  a  preacher's  being  true  to  his 
own  individuality  :  "  Let  the  preacher  never  forget  the 
reality  of  the  man ;  let  him  never  become  a  conven- 
tional being ;  let  him  never  adopt  the  mere  slang  of 
religion.     Let  him  retain  his  reality  as  a  man." 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  415 

And  he  goes  so  far  in  bis  advocacy  of  naturalness 
and  reality  in  preaching  that  he  cites  in  this  same  ad- 
dress some  notable  preachers  of  his  time  whose  manner 
in  their  cases  be  would  not  have  altered  in  the  slight- 
est degree — because  it  so  unquestionably  revealed  and 
stamped  their  individuality/ 

[c)  But  while  keeping  individuality,  faults  may  be 
modified,  infelicities  of  manner  removed,  the  voice 
given  flexibility  and  compass  and  purity  of  tone ;  and 
in  this  and  other  ways,  a  marked — in  some  cases  a 
marvellous — improvement  may  be  made  in  the  delivery 
of  the  sermon. 

lY.  The  sources  of  jpower  in  effective  delivery,  and 
the  processes  by  which  power  may  be  secured. 

^  From  a  London  address  by  Gladstone  : 

Dr.  Newman,  when  I  was  an  undergraduate  at  Oxford,  was  looked 
upon  rather  with  prejudice  as  what  is  termed  a  Low  Churchman, 
but  was  very  much  respected  for  his  character  and  his  known  ability. 
He  was  then  the  vicar  of  St.  Mary's  at  Oxford,  and  used  to  preach 
there.  Without  ostentation  or  effort,  but  by  simple  excellence,  he 
was  constantly  drawing  undergraduates  more  and  more  around  him. 

Dr.  Newman's  manner  in  the  pulpit  was  one  about  which,  if  you 
considered  it  in  its  separate  parts,  you  would  arrive  at  very  unsatisfac- 
tory conclusions.  There  was  not  very  much  change  in  the  inflection 
of  the  voice ;  action  there  was  none.  His  sermons  were  read,  and  his 
eyes  were  always  on  his  book ;  and  all  that,  you  will  say,  is  against 
efficiency  in  preaching.  Yes,  but  you  take  the  man  as  a  whole,  and 
there  was  a  stamp  and  a  seal  about  him  ;  there  was  a  solemn  music  and 
sweetness  in  the  tone ;  there  was  a  completeness  in  the  figure  taken 
altogether  with  the  tone  and  with  the  manner  which  made  even  his 
delivery,  such  as  I  have  described  it,  and  though  exclusively  with 
written  sermons,  singularly  attractive. 

Well,  now  I  will  take  a  great  jump,  and  go  to  another  very  notable 
and  very  admirable  man — I  mean  Dr.  Chalmers.  I  have  heard  Dr. 
Chalmers  preach  and  lecture,  and  I  think  I  have  heard  him  speak. 
Well,  now,  being  a  man  entirely  of  Scotch  blood,  I  am  very  much  at- 
tached to  Scotland,  and  like  even  the  Scotch  accent,  but  not  the  Scotch 


416  The  Sermon 

A  full  consideration  of  these  would  require  an  elab- 
orate treatise.  Perhaps  the  very  elaborateness  of 
some  of  our  systems  of  elocution  has  defeated  the 
end  they  had  in  view.  Moreover,  they  have  ignored 
some  of  the  prime  sources  of  power  in  delivery :  and 
have  been  too  exclusively  devoted  to  technical  rules, 
and  to  the  physical  instruments. 

The  problem  is  a  mental  as  well  as  a  physical  one. 
On  the  physical  side  we  have  posture,  gesture,  and 
voice.  Heed  must  be  paid  to  these  if  we  would  have 
good  delivery. 

Posture 
It  should  be  erect,  manly,  with  every  part  of  the 
body  free  for  instant  response  to  every  call  of  thought 

accent  of  Dr.  Chalmers.  Undoubtedly,  the  accent  of  Dr.  Chalmers  in 
preaching  and  delivery  was  a  considerable  impediment.  Notwith- 
standing that,  it  was  all  overborne  by  the  power  of  the  man  in  preach- 
ing— overborne  by  his  power,  which  melted  into  harmony  with  all 
the  adjuncts  and  incidents  of  the  man  as  a  whole;  so  much  so  that, 
although  I  would  have  said  the  accent  of  Dr.  Chalmers  was  distasteful, 
yet  in  Dr.  Chalmers  himself  I  would  not  have  it  altered  in  the  small- 
est degree. 

I  will  take  another  example.  I  am  afraid  no  one  here  recollects 
hearing  Mr.  Shell,  If  anybody  recollects  him,  there  is  nothing  which 
I  can  appeal  to ;  but  if  you  will  consider  a  tin  kettle  battered  about 
from  place  to  place,  producing  a  succession  of  sounds  as  it  is  knocked 
first  against  one  side  and  then  against  the  other,  that  is  really  one  of 
the  nearest  approximations  that  I  can  make  to  my  remembrance  of  the 
voice  of  Mr.  Shell ;  and  there,  again,  in  anybody  else  I  would  not,  if  it 
had  been  in  my  choice,  have  liked  to  have  listened  to  that  voice,  but  in 
him  I  would  not  have  changed  it,  for  it  was  part  of  a  most  remarkable 
whole,  and  nobody  ever  felt  it  painful  when  listening  to  it.  There 
was  a  peculiar  character — a  sort  of  half-wildness — in  his  aspect  and 
delivery;  and  his  whole  figure,  and  his  delivery  and  his  voice,  and  his 
matter  were  all  in  such  perfect  keeping  with  one  another  that  they 
formed  a  great  parliamentary  picture. 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  417 

or  feeling.  This  is  the  normal  position  to  which  the 
body  should  return  after  any  temporary  deviations 
demanded  by  action.  There  will  thus  be  opportunity 
for  the  fullest  play  of  diaphragm  and  lungs,  the  fullest 
expansion  of  the  chest,  and  the  fullest  vocal  expres- 
sion. A  lounging,  lazy  attitude  in  the  pulpit  is  not 
only  disrespectful  to  the  audience,  but  it  is  wholly  out 
of  keeping  with  the  character  of  one  who  has  come  to 
deliver  a  message  from  God.  Social  etiquette  bars  it 
out  of  the  drawing-room.  A  sensitive  conscience  will 
bar  it  out  of  the  pulpit.  Especially  should  the  dia- 
phragm be  kept  free.  Its  muscles  are  what  may  be 
termed  the  roof  of  the  stomach,  or  the  floor  of  the 
lungs.  These  muscles  are  the  pumping  apparatus,  by 
which  breathing  is  made  possible  in  swift,  strong,  in- 
haling or  exhaling  drafts  of  air.  They  are  the  secrets 
of  vocal  power.  Therefore  the  diaphragm  should  be 
left  free  for  the  fullest  play.  Neither  side  nor  front 
should  be  clamped  or  doubled  up.  Take  heed  to  pos- 
ture.    Let  it  be  erect,  dignified,  natural. 

Gesture 

The  attempt  to  follow  rules  here,  in  technical  detail, 
would  lead  to  insufferable  affectation,  and  mannerism. 
But  here,  even  more  than  in  posture,  there  are  some 
things  unchallengeable,  and  which  it  is  worth  every 
minister's  while  to  heed. 

1.  Gesture  is  an  immense  aid  to  expression  and  so 
to  impression.  In  fact,  and  without  dispute,  impres- 
sion is  limited  only  by  the  power  of  expression.  And 
the  power  of  expression  is  almost  limitless.  Quin- 
tilian  says,  "  Gesture  is  more  impressive  than  the 
voice."    No  man  gives  vent  to  warm  and  animated 


41 8  ^   The  Sermon 

feelings  with  his  mouth  alone.  Who  has  not  seen  a 
man  talking  from  head  to  foot,  through  every  possible 
medium  of  expression !  If  the  preacher  were  repre- 
senting Christ  at  the  Judgment  he  surely  would  not 
need  to  shout  the  sentence  of  condemnation — but  lift- 
ing his  arm  and  pointing  his  finger,  after  a  brief  but 
emphatic  pause,  he  would  quietly  say — "  Depart." 
And  the  thunder  would  be  in  the  gesture  and  the 
silence.  Without  doubt,  fitting  gesture  emphasizes  and 
intensifies  vocal  expression.  Mark  Antony  wrought 
the  passion  of  his  hearers  to  the  highest  pitch,  by  ^m- 
covering  and  counting  the  wounds  of  Caesar.  And 
surely  the  persuasive  power  of  Paul's  speech  before 
Agrippa  was  intensified,  when  he  lifted  up  his  chains 
and  said,  "  Except  these  bonds ! "  Whitefield's  hands, 
stretched  to  heaven,  his  lifted  eyes  full  of  tears,  his 
whole  body  quiveringly  suppliant,  gave  his  words 
tenfold  power. 

2.  Gesture  should  be  adapted  to  the  individual. 
It  cannot  be  rigidly  prescribed.  What  would  be  fit 
in  one  person  would  be  out  of  place  in  another.  Chrys- 
ostom,  the  golden-mouthed,  of  Antioch  and  the  fourth 
century,  the  prince  of  patristic  orators,  held  his  au- 
dience spellbound.  It  is  said  that  every  time  he 
struck  his  left  palm  with  his  right  forefinger,  as  he 
did  when  excited,  some  heart  surrendered  to  the  irre- 
sistible power  of  his  eloquence.  Massillon,  the  great 
French  preacher,  frequently  joined  his  hands,  some- 
times crossed  them  on  his  breast,  and  occasionally 
even  on  his  forehead,  which  is  said  to  have  had  a  sur- 
prising effect.  Hooker,  one  of  the  foremost  preachers 
of  the  Reformation  age,  stood  stone  still  in  the  pulpit. 
Where  his  eye  was  fixed  at  the  beginning  of  his 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  419 

sermons,  it  was  found  fixed  at  the  end.  Bourdaloue, 
another  French  preacher  of  commanding  eloquence, 
stood  in  a  grand  and  noble  posture,  but  kept  his  eyes 
closed. 

Now  suppose  some  tyro  in  preaching,  hoping  for 
like  marvellous  effects  in  the  pulpit,  should  set  him- 
self to  striking  his  left  palm  with  his  forefinger,  like 
Chrysostom — or  to  crossing  his  hands  on  his  forehead 
like  Massillon,  or  to  fixing  his  eye  like  Hooker,  or  to 
shutting  his  eyes  like  Bourdaloue.  We  see  the  ab- 
surdity— and  we  see  the  point.  The  mere  copyist  will 
be  apt  to  make  a  sorry  picture.  Gesture  should  he 
adapted  to  the  individual. 

3.  Hence  all  gesture  should  be  the  unpremeditated 
language  of  nature ;  i.  e.,  it  should  so  be  at  the  time 
of  actual  delivery.  It  should  not  be  gone  through 
with  before  the  mirror,  determined  on  there,  and  then 
carried  by  memory  into  the  pulpit.  Such  gestures 
will  inevitably  be  artificial.  They  are  got  up  to 
order,  made  for  the  occasion,  without  the  emotion  or 
feeling  to  prompt  them,  and  they  will  be  like  the 
body  without  the  spirit — dead  :  as  much  unlike  and 
beneath  nature,  as  the  forget  me-not  of  the  shop 
is  unlike  and  beneath  the  forget-me-not  of  the 
meadow. 

Question  1.  As  fit  gesture  is  so  effective  an  aid  to 
speech,  should  not  the  preacher  study  and 2)rcictice  it  ? 
Beyond  all  question.  But  the  study  should  be  on  any 
other  composition  than  the  one  he  is  about  to  deliver. 
Gesture,  at  the  time  it  comes  to  birth,  should  be  the 
outlet  and  expression  of  feeling — feeling  that  does  not 
find  its  full  vent  in  words.  It  cannot  be  this,  if  it  is 
the  result  of  attitudinizing  before  the  glass,     Looks 


420  .^^  The  Sermon 

and  hands  and  postures  should  speak  the  unpremedi- 
tated language  of  nature. 

Question  2.  But  are  not  the  very  faults  of  some 
men  the  language  of  nature  ?  Certainly.  But  nature 
all  awry.  It  needs  to  be  made  natural.  Therefore, 
something  should  be  done  to  lop  off  her  excrescences, 
and  to  mend  her  awkwardness. 

4.     Suggestions  for  improvement  in  gesture. 

{a)  Let  there  be  first  a  careful  study  of  the  philos- 
ophy of  gesture — of  that  correspondence  we  see  every- 
where between  emotion  and  action.  Let  the  action  of 
children  be  carefully  noted.  Watch  them  when  they 
are  at  play.  See  how  naturally  they  give  expression 
to  feeling.  Hear  a  good  speaker  as  often  as  possible, 
and  study  his  manner  and  action  ;  mark  the  effects ; 
get  at  the  secret  of  his  power. 

(5)  Have  an  intelligent  and  sympathetic  but  ab- 
solutely faithful  friend,  hear  you  in  private,  and 
criticise  and  make  suggestions  as  you  proceed. 

{c)  Practice  before  the  glass  also.  There  one 
can  see  the  awkwardness  of  his  own  mov^ements. 
Nothing  is  more  absolutely  honest  than  a  good 
mirror. 

But  never  use  for  either  of  these  exercises  the  dis- 
course about  to  he  used  in  the  pulpit.  These  exercises 
are  solely  to  form  the  hahit  of  appropriate  gesture. 
This  drill  and  training  and  study  are  not  to  get  one 
ready  for  next  Sunday :  but  for  all  the  Sundays. 
Leave  the  actual  delivery  of  each  discourse  to  the 
hour  and  the  occasion.  Let  the  gestiires  mahe  them- 
selves. They  will  take  on  fitness  and  naturalness, 
just  as  the  speaker  has  been  disciplined  by  long  ante- 
cedent study  and  drill     The  study  of  delivery  must 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  42 1 

not  he  in  the  process  of  delivery ^  but  antecedent  to  it, 
and  in  connection  with  other  discourse.  This  process 
will  ere  long  make  it  impossible  for  the  speaker  ever 
to  use  a  welcoming  gesture,  when  a  forbidding  or 
repellent  action  is  demanded ;  or  a  gesture  with  the 
fist  when  it  ought  to  be  with  the  finger ;  or  a  broad- 
side gesture  when  it  ought  to  be  a  thrust  as  sharp  as 
pointed  steel. 

(d)  One  thing  more.  Recall  the  delivery  of  the 
discourse  in  some  quiet  hour  after  the  service.  Doubt- 
less some  erroneous  emphasis,  some  unnatural  action, 
some  strained  tone  of  voice,  will  come  to  mind.  If  so, 
determine  by  the  grace  of  God  that  it  shall  not  occur 
again. 

Avoid  all  mannerism — such  as  much  adjustment 
of  hair,  much  arrangement  of  coat,  much  handker- 
chief !  Be  natural.  And  if  nature  is  awry,  mend 
nature,  by  quiet  processes  of  discipline. 

And  only  do  things  that  are  needful.  For  example : 
do  not  let  the  arms  go  sprawling  in  the  air  in  violent 
gesticulation  like  the  arms  of  an  old-fashioned  wind- 
mill whether  there  be  much  breeze  or  little. 

In  fine,  all  action  in  the  pulpit  should  correspond 
to  state  of  souly  and  he  the  outgrowth  and  legitimate 
expression  of  thought  and  feeling. 

{e)  Last  of  all,  but  possibly  most  of  all,  pay  con- 
stant heed  to  the  five  great  laws  of  gesture  :  the  law 
of  motion,  of  succession,  of  economy,  of  consistency, 
and  of  significance. 

(1)  The  law  of  motion.  Passion  is  eccentric — from 
the  centre.  Examples :  "  Away  with  him :  Away 
with  him."  He  spurned  the  bribe.  "  From  my  very 
soul  I  loathe  all  affectation." 


422  A    The  Sermon 

Thought  is  eccentric — to  the  centre.  "As  he  was 
thinking — thinhing — thinking."  And  each  word 
wraps  the  man  more  and  more  within  himself.  And 
he  seems  lost  to  everything,  in  the  intensity  of  his  medi- 
tation. Soliloquy  is  illustrative  of  this  self-centering 
emphasis.  The  stage  ranter  will  shout,  "  To  be,  or 
not  to  be — that's  the  question,"  just  as  if  he  were 
inaking  a  sjpeech.  The  real  actor  will  seem  to  be  so 
absorbed  in  the  meditation,  as  to  be  lost  to  all  sense 
of  an  audience. 

Love  is  concentric — about  the  centre.  It  is  welcom- 
ing, enfolding,  embracing,  and  the  gesture  will  be  in 
keeping  with  the  emotion. 

(2)  The  law  of  succession.  The  eye  will  speak 
first,  flashing  instantly  the  feeling  of  the  heart.  So 
look  will  precede  gesture.  And  gesture  will  precede 
speech.  Change  that  succession  :  and  see  what  ab- 
surdities appear. 

(3)  The  law  of  economy.  What  perspicuity,  pre- 
cision and  vividness  secure  in  speech,  this  law  of 
economy  secures  in  action.  It  corrects  waste oi}^o\NQv — 
not  two  hands  where  one  would  suffice  ;  not  a  gesture 
for  every  varying  shade  of  thought.  Not  too  fre- 
quent use  of  the  same  gesture.  Don't  be  always  saw- 
ing the  air  with  the  arms. 

(4)  The  law  of  consistency.  Eye,  hand,  face,  voice 
should  all  tell  the  same  story,  e.  g.,  if  the  speaker  is 
representing  the  Wghinmg  flashing  across  the  heavens, 
the  lightning  will  be  in  the  eye,  and  in  the  swift-mov- 
ing hand,  as  well  as  in  the  words. 

(5)  The  law  of  significance.  This  is  the  de- 
mand for  adaptation  of  gesture  to  thought  and 
emotion. 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  423 

Voice 

The  vital  thing  on  the  physical  side  of  the  problem 
of  delivery  is  the  voice.  Success  in  the  pulpit  is 
simply  impossible,  unless  the  speaker  makes  himself 
heard,  and  well  heard.  If  he  or  his  hearers  are  under 
constant  strain  in  the  effort  to  speak  or  hear,  the 
result  will  inevitably  be  a  vacant  pulpit,  or  vacant 
pews. 

Cicero  says,  "  For  the  effectiveness  and  glory  of  de- 
livery, the  voice  doubtless  holds  the  first  place."  The 
preacher  is  to  speak  every  Sabbath.  He  must  have  a 
voice.  The  message,  the  mission,  the  occasion,  the 
consequences,  plead  "  trumpet-tongued "  for  a  ijood 
voice. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  go  into  minute  details  about 
the  voice.  The  reader  must  again  be  referred  to  a 
good  work  on  elocution,  and  a  good  drill  master  in 
voice  culture.  But  some  things  cannot  be  out  of 
place  here. 

1.     Every  voice  may  be  improved.     There  is  noth- 
ing more  capable  of  improvement.     Innumerable  in- 
stances could  be  cited  where  the  speaking  power  has^ 
been  developed  fourfold,  by  proper  exercise.  / 

What  wonders  have  been  done  in  its  development 
in  singing.  What  sweep  and  volume,  what  power  and 
sweetness,  have  been  given  it  by  judicious  training. 
The  same  painstaking  effort  would  produce  like 
marvels  in  giving  the  voice  resonance  and  force  and 
range  for  public  speaking. 

The  Greeks  had  a  distinct  class  of  teachers  called 
vocists^  whose  course  of  training  in  the  use  of  the  voice 
was  most  protracted  and  laborious.  They  had  their 
pupils  walk,  run,  climb,  lie  on  their  backs  with  weights 


424  The  Sermon 

on  their  chests,  declaiming  meanwhile  to  strengthen 
the  voice.  Cicero's  eminence  in  vocal  power,  in  that 
most  eloquent  age  of  the  world's  history,  would  never 
have  been  possible  without  painstaking  drill.  Patrick 
Henry  gave  systematic  daily  study  and  practice  to  the 
art  of  discourse. 

2.  Every  voice  has  a  character — an  individuality, 
just  as  its  owner  has.  If  a  debate  is  going  on  in  the 
next  room,  and  the  door  is  ajar,  and  you  are  familiar 
with  the  speakers,  you  can  name  each  one  as  you 
hear  his  voice,  whether  he  entreats,  commands,  in- 
structs, denounces,  or  threatens.  The  voice  should  be 
built,  just  like  the  man — along  the  line  of  individual- 
ity. This  shows  the  folly  of  all  attempts  at  imitation 
in  the  use  of  the  voice. 

3.  The  powers  of  the  voice  are  length,  breadth, 
compass,  stress,  and  flexibility.  Length  is  ability  to 
continue  the  sound — to  prolong  it.  Breadth  is  ability 
to  give  it  volume.  Compass  is  ability  to  go  over  wide 
range  up  and  down  the  scale.  It  is  essential  to  the 
grandest  effects ;  especially  to  the  command  of  the 
chest  tones.  Only  this  quality  of  voice  can  give  that 
variety  of  pitch  and  inflection  which  ever-varying 
thought  and  feeling  require.  And,  when  used,  it 
makes  dead  monotony  impossible.  Stress  is  strik- 
ing the  vowels  with  a  quick,  sharp,  explosive 
utterance — Beecher  called  it  "  lunge "  in  preach- 
ing. It  is  a  sort  of  trip-hammer  stroke  with  light- 
ning in  it. 

And  the   crowning  glory  of  these  powers  of  the 

voice  is  Jlexihility^  in  which  are  the  very  life  and  soul 

of    expression.     It    is    the    power    of    passing    with 

y  ease  from   one  key  to  another,  through  the  whole 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  425 

range  of  tone,  from  bottom  to  top,  and  from  top  to 
bottom. 

4.     Some  practical  hints  in  the  use  of  the  voice  in'> 
the  delivery  of  a  sermon. 

{a)  Begin  quietly.  In  all  ordinary  cases,  use  just 
enough  voice  to  be  heard  in  the  farthest  part  of  the 
room,  and  no  more.  If,  at  the  outset,  pitch  and 
strength  are  taken  that  would  fit  the  more  animated 
parts  of  the  discourse,  two  things  are  absolute!}^  sure, 
— monotony  in  the  pulpit  and  weariness  in  the  pew. 
What  possibility  is  there  for  climax,  if  one  roars  in 
the  introduction  ! 

(J)  Make  frequent  use  of  the  conversational  tone. 
Talk  to  the  audience.  In" all  conversational  passages, 
in  quiet  narration,  in  the  persuasive  and  encouraging 
parts  of  the  sermon — talk. 

{c)  For  sympathetic  effects,  use  the  tones  lying 
somewhere  between  the  base  and  the  tenor.  It  is  the 
contralto  voice  that  is  oftenest  full  of  tears.  To  draw 
men,  avoid  the  loud  tones  and  the  declamatory  style. 
Don't  shout.  Use  the  quiet  and  natural  inflections  of 
the  voice.  Syinpatky  wins.  And  sympathy  is  moist, 
tender,  implies  nearness. 

(d)  For  denunciation,  invective,  triumph,  anger 
and  for  inspirational  effects,  to  rouse  and  fire  an 
audience,  use  of  course  the  low  tones — and  more  com- 
monly the  loud  tones  of  the  upper  register.  King  the 
voice  against  the  roof  of  the  mouth,  bring  the  mouth's 
resonant  cavities  into  full  use,  if  you  would  have  the 
voice  travel  far.  The  sharp  ringing  tones  will  stir  the 
blood,  and  send  it  tingling  along  its  courses,  as  no  bass 
tones  will,  however  grand  and  deep.  The  tenor  tones 
are  more  resonant  and  penetrating,  as  shown  by  the 


426  >^  The  Sermon 

way  in  which  one  calls  another  at  long  distance.  The 
voice  then,  naturally  and  inevitably,  not  only  takes 
louder  tone,  but  higher  key. 

{e)  Beware  of  sustained  loudness.  Keeping  a  high 
pitch  till  everybody  is  tired,  in  pew  and  pulpit,  will 
certainly  tend  to  do  two  things — diminish  the 
audience,  and  kill  the  preacher.  Besides,  if  one  is 
loud  and  vehement  where  the  sentiment  is  quiet,  what 
is  he  to  do  but  to  bawl  and  be  boisterous  when  he 
comes  to  passages  demanding  intense  expression  ! 
Great  actors  know  how  to  whisker  so  as  to  be  heard 
by  everybody  in  a  large  theatre.  And  indifferent 
preachers  know  how  to  shout  so  as  to  be  heard  in- 
telligibly by  only  a  very  small  number  even  in  a 
moderately-sized  church.  Remember  Hamlet's  ad- 
vice to  the  players  :  '^  Oh,  it  offends  me  to  the  soul 
to  hear  a  robustious  periwig-pated  fellow,  tear  a 
passion  to  tatters,  to  very  rags.  ...  I  would 
have  such  a  fellow  whipped  for  o'erdoing  termagant. 
/it  out-Herods  Herod  !  Pray  you  avoid  it."  Clear- 
ness, distinctness — not  loudness — is  the  great  requisite. 
Don't  try  to  be  impassioned  or  emphatic  throughout 
the  entire  sermon.  If  nature  thundered  all  the  year 
round,  we  wouldn't  think  thunder  much  of  an  affair, 
^  after  all. 

(/")  To  preserve  the  voice,  maintain  wholesome 
habits  of  eating  and  exercise ;  keep  a  good  stomach ; 
dash  cold  water  against  the  neck  and  chest  daily ; 
pump  the  air  from  the  very  bottom  of  the  lungs ;  and 
use  a  natural  and  not  an  artificial  or  strained  tone. 

This  finishes  the  strictly  physical  side  of  the  problem 

of  delivery  in  public  speech.     But  between  this  and 

\  the  strictly  mental  side,  are  some  things  not  to  be 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  427 

classed  with  either,  exclusively,  yet  of  peculiar  value 
in  good  delivery.  They  may  be  properly  desig- 
nated as 


The  Intermediate  Sources  of  Power 
IN  Delivery 

They  are  emphasis,  oratorical  style,  the  use  of 
Anglo-Saxon  words,  and  familiarity  with  the  manu- 
script. 

Emphasis 

{a)  How  defined.  It  is  taking  a  word  or  clause 
out  of  the  level,  and  giving  it  a  prominent  place  in  the 
sentence. 

{b)  How  determined.  Emphasis  as  to  its  location 
must  be  determined  solely  by  the  meaning  of  the  sen- 
tence. The  substantive  "  thought- word  "  is  the  em- 
phatic word  in  the  opening  sentence.  The  new  thought 
added  in  each  subsequent  sentence,  should  have  the 
emphasis.  But  take  the  sublime  opening  verse  of  the 
Gospel  by  John,  and  nine  readers  out  of  ten  will  mis- 
place the  emphasis  in  reading  it,  some  at  one  point, 
some  at  another,  but  probably  the  whole  nine  will  hit 
the  third  "  was  "  hard,  as  if  it  were  a  far  more  impor- 
tant "  was  "  than  either  of  the  others  ! 

Perfect  possession  of  the  thought  or  feeling  to  be 
expressed  is,  therefore,  indispensable  to  true  emphasis. 
We  cannot  render  what  we  do  not  understand.  And 
a  sentence  may  be  so  arranged  that  one  can  put  the 
emphasis  anywhere,  without  being  sure  he  has  the 
meaning  of  the  writer.  Here  is  the  oft-quoted  illus- 
tration of  this  point,  showing  what  possibilities  are 
wrapped   up  in  a  seemingly  simple  sentence :     "  Do 


428  ^  The  Sermon 

you  go  to  town  to-day  ? "  Barring  the  preposition, 
one  can  get  five  distinct  and  perfectly  proper  mean- 
ings from  that  sentence,  according  to  where  he  places 
the  emphasis.^ 

(<?)  How  is  emphasis  given  ?  One  way  is  by  in- 
creased stress  of  voice.  Some  speakers  use  no  other ; 
the  result  of  which  is  a  heavy  thump,  thump,  thump 
in  their  delivery,  which  soon  ceases  to  have  any  of  the 
effect  of  emphasis  or  expression,  and  becomes  insuf- 
ferably monotonous. 

But  there  are  other  ways  of  emphasis,  and  they 
should  be  used  to  give  variety  to  delivery.  There  is 
not  only  emphasis  by  force  or  stress  of  voice,  but 
emphasis  by  prolongation  of  sound,  by  emphatic 
pause,  by  change  of  pitch,  by  passing  from  vocalizing 
to  whispering  ;  which  last,  by  Dr.  Parker  of  London, 
as  I  once  heard  him,  was  tremendously  effective. 

Oratorical  Style 

This  is  another  element  of  value  in  effective  delivery. 
The  sermon  is  to  he  spohen — it  is  for  the  ear.  It  has 
a  single  main  object,  and  must  secure  it ;  one  leading 
point,  and  must  carry  it.  The  sermon  is  an  oration, 
not  an  essay.  Preaching  is  the  noblest  kind  of  oratory. 
But  to  be  that,  it  must  be  adapted  to  delivery.  And 
the  best  delivery  is  impossible,  without  an  oratorical 
style.     'Eo  intricate  and  involved  processes  of  reason- 

^  Everybody  knows — almost  everybody — that  the  italicized  words  in 
Scripture  are  not  for  emphasis.  But  an  elocutionist  was  once  insisting 
upon  a  certain  emphasis  in  drilling  one  of  our  students  in  a  Bible 
reading,  and  he  supported  his  contention  by  pointing  out  that  the 
word  was  in  italics.  I  told  the  student  he  should  have  shied  1  Kings 
13  :  13  (old  version)  at  the  elocutionist :  **  And  the  old  man  said  to 
his  sons,  '  Saddle  me  the  ass  ' :  and  they  saddled  M?»." 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  429 

ing,  no  long  and  complicated  sentences.  The  sense 
must  be  conveyed  at  once  and  through  the  ear,  as  the 
speaker  proceeds.  Therefore,  break  up  sentences ; 
simplify  trains  of  thought ;  go  straight  for  the  object 
desired ;  put  an  urgency  into  style.  Write  for  the 
ear,  that  you  may  speak  to  the  heart.  Guthrie  wrote 
aloudy  and  committed  in  silence.  He  said  writing 
aloud  led  to  a  spoken  style. 

Use  of  Anglo-Saxon  Words 
This  is  another  contribution  to  effective  pulpit 
speech.  Preachers  often  lose  power  over  their  hearers 
rather  by  their  phraseology  than  by  their  thought. 
They  overload  their  thought  with  polysyllables,  and 
take  its  vim  and  point  and  pungent  directness  all 
away.  Hear  the  Bible :  "  There  is  no  work  in  the 
grave."  Change  this  into  phraseology  common  to 
many  a  pulpit :  Keligious  activity  cannot  be  exer- 
cised in  the  sepulchre.  Hear  one  of  our  terse  proverbs : 
"It's  an  ill  wind  that  blows  nobody  any  good."  N"ow 
change  this  into  the  supposed  elegance  and  stateliness 
of  some  preacher  who  is  more  bent  on  sounding  words 
than  sounding  thought :  It's  a  truly  diseased  gale 
that  puffeth  benefaction  to  nonentity.  The  difference 
is  apparent — and  so  is  the  point.  Oratorical  style  is 
for  carrying  things.  It  moves  in  straight  lines.  It  is 
bent  on  its  object. 

Familiarity  with  the  Manuscript 

This  is  another  condition  of  effective  pulpit  delivery, 
but,  of  course,  only  prevailing  where  the  sermon  is 
written.  The  preacher  must  ordinarily  look  at  his 
hearers,  and  get  their  eye,  and  hold  it,  if  he  would 


430  The  Sermon 

inspire  them,  and  catch,  as  well  as  give,  inspiration. 
He  must  break  loose  from  the  fetters  of  a  close  and 
constant  attention  to  his  manuscript.  His  glances  at 
the  paper  before  him  must  be  momentary,  and  to  a 
degree  unconscious.  If  this  sub-process  of  taking  in 
the  sense  through  the  eye  is  prominent,  if  there  is  a 
constant  effort  to  pick  out  and  pick  up  the  written 
words,  the  faculties  are  so  preoccupied  that  an  ideal 
delivery  is  simply  impossible.  Hogarth  represented 
this  absurdity  of  pulpit  discourse  in  one  of  his  effective 
pictures,  where  a  preacher  is  spelling  out  the  sense  of 
his  manuscript  to  a  snoring  congregation.  Two  things 
are  requisite  to  familiarity  with  a  manuscript — hold, 
jplain  handwriting,  and  j^remous  study  of  the  manu- 
scrijpt. 

But,  after  all,  the  hidings  of  power  in  delivery  are 
not  here — not  in  posture,  gesture,  or  voice;  not  in 
emphasis,  oratorical  style,  Anglo-Saxon  words,  or 
familiarity  with  the  manuscript.  All  these  are  im- 
portant. The}^  are  conditions  of  most  effective  de- 
livery. Delivery  is  better,  is  always  better,  with  them 
than  without  them.  But  they  are  not  the  sources  of 
that  power  which  is  mightiest  over  the  human  heart 
in  connection  with  public  speech.  Men  differ  widely 
in  these  respects,  with  equal  power.  They  violate  all 
laws  of  posture  and  gesture  and  emphasis  and  inflec- 
tion, yet  have  power.  Some  of  the  greatest  oratorical 
effects  are  produced  by  men  with  no  external  graces 
whatever.  John  B.  Gough  was  all  action.  Jonathan 
Edwards  had  no  action.  Each  in  his  way  was  a  great 
mover  of  men.  Dr.  Wadsworth,  of  old  Philadelphia 
fame,  had  a  way  of  turning  his  arm  in  the  air  like  a 
great  screw,  and  it  often  seemed  a  way  of  getting  an 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  431 

argument  in,  where  a  logical  sledge-hammer  would 
have  been  of  no  avail.  While  some  men,  like  Arnot 
of  Scotland,  at  the  close  of  important  periods,  throw 
the  whole  body  forward,  as  if  to  smite  the  audience 
with  the  butt  end  of  an  argument. 

What  are  we  to  argue  from  all  this  ?  That  gesture 
and  posture  and  voice  are  of  no  account  ?  By  no 
means.  But  that  there  may  he  power  in  delivery  in 
spite  of  great  defects  along  the  lines  we  have  been 
discussing. 

We  all  know  that  a  good  voice  is  a  mighty  aid  to 
effective  speech.  But  men  of  thin,  shrill,  feeble  voices 
have  had  great  power  in  delivery.  John  Randolph's 
squeaking  voice  did  not  prevent  him,  with  his  con- 
centrated earnestness,  from  moving  in  narrow  lines 
with  great  intensity.  Robert  Hall's  voice  was  thin 
and  feeble,  but  he  was  eloquent. 

This  only  shows  us  that  the  hidings  of  chief  power 
in  delivery  are  deeper  than  we  have  yet  gone.  The 
problem,  as  we  have  said,  is  not  simply  physical.  It 
is  also  mental  and  spiritual.  On  the  physical  side,  we 
have  posture^  gesture^  voice.  Intermediate,  not  to  be 
classed  exclusively  with  the  physical  or  mental,  but 
touching  and  connected  with  each,  are  emphasis,  ora- 
torical style,  use  of  Anglo-Saxon  words,  and  famili- 
arity with  the  manuscript. 

The  Mental  and  Spiritual  Sources  of  Power 

IN  Delivery 

These,  of  course,  are  at  the  very  core  of  our  inner 
life — the  soul  of  our  soul.  They  are — ideas^  feeling^ 
earnestness^  and  aiUhority. 


432  ^    The  Sermon 

Ideas 
Ideas  are  at  the  basis  of  effective  delivery.  If  right 
delivery  is  the  fit  and  true  expression  of  thought,  then 
a  powerful  delivery  is  not  the  child  of  weak  thoughts. 
Power  in  thought  tends  to  power  in  expression.  It 
does  not  always  produce  it.  And  sometimes,  as  we 
all  know,  there  is  considerable  power  in  expression, 
with  no  power  in  thought :  a  great  clatter  with  an 
empty  cock-loft — vox,  vox,  vox,  and  nothing  more. 
"  Was  he  soond  ?  "  asked  the  Scotchman,  referring  to 
the  preacher's  orthodoxy.  "  Soond  ! "  was  the  reply, 
"  he  was  a*  soond  ; "  referring  to  the  preacher's  noise. 
Weak  expression  and  strong  ideas  may  sometimes  go 
together  ;  but  they  do  not  naturally  go  together.  A 
great  sermon  may  be  poorly  delivered,  and  a  little 
sermon  may  be  most  effectively  delivered.  But  it 
still  remains  true  that  ideas  are  at  the  foundation  of 
power  in  speech.  Ordinarily,  a  man  must  believe 
that  there  is  power  in  his  sermon — that  he  has 
something  worth  saying,  if  he  would  have  power 
in  delivery.  And  that  he  may  have  the  belief,  let 
him  have  the  ideas.  They  are  the  best  inspirers  of 
effective  and  eloquent  action.  If  there  is  nothing 
in  the  sermon,  no  action  is  needed  except  to  turn 
over  the  leaves  of  the  manuscript — and  the  sooner 
the  better,  for  both  audience  and  preacher.  If  there 
is  nothing  to  stir  the  soul  and  rouse  to  action,  then 
a  vigorous  sawing  of  the  air,  and  a  terrible  amount 
and  weight  of  emphasis,  will  only  remind  the 
hearers  of  that  oft-quoted  street  cry  of  Constan- 
tinople :  "  In  the  name  of  the  Prophet— Jigs  !  "  A 
great  noise  and  a  great  name — and  only  figs  after 
alll 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  433 

Feeling 

This  is  fervency — emotional  outplay.  Call  it  what 
you  will.  But  it  is  a  thing  to  be  laboured  for  and 
prayed  for.  It  is  a  prodigious  source  of  power  in 
delivery.  And  no  man  can  be  a  great  preacher  with- 
out having  this  element  in  greater  or  less  degree 
"coming  and  going  between  himself  and  his  hearers." 
Passion  is  eloquence.  "  Till  thought  becomes  a  pas- 
sion, it  hardly  ever  becomes  a  power."  The  same/ 
truth  spoken  by  different  men,  or  by  the  same  man 
at  different  times,  will  often  produce  very  different 
effects :  and  the  difference,  to  a  large  degree,  is  trace- 
able to  the  amount  of  feeling  experienced  and  mani- 
fested in  its  delivery.  Surely  to  feel  the  power  of  the 
thought  is  indispensable  to  the  most  effective  delivery 
of  it.  Cicero  says,  "  I  never  yet,  I  assure  you,  tried 
to  excite  sorrow  or  compassion  when  speaking  before 
a  court  of  judicature,  but  I  myself  was  affected  with 
the  very  same  emotion  that  I  wished  to  excite  in  the 
judges."  The  want  of  this  accounts  for  the  failure  of 
some  men  of  even  unusual  talents.  Their  words  have 
no  power,  for  they  themselves  have  no  feeling  of  their 
power  in  the  time  of  delivery.  The  emotion  does  not 
flash  in  the  eye,  nor  tremble  on  the  lips,  nor  betray 
itself  in  the  tones  of  the  voice. 

Humboldt  described  Schleiermacher's  preaching  as 
^^  i\iQ  personal^  penetrating,  kindling  effusion  of  a  feel- 
ing.''^ And  this  was  the  preaching  that  "shook  Ger- 
many from  its  spiritual  lethargy."  Let  us  mark  and 
weigh  these  words  of  a  great  student  and  a  great 
statesman,  and  seek  to  have  all  our  preaching  per- 
vaded with  this  "personal,  penetrating,  kindling  ef- 
fusion." 


434  The  Sermon 

Two  or  three  questions  here  suggest  themselves  that 
should  have  heed. 

1st.  Is  it  ever  justifiable  to  assume  feeling  ?  It  is 
better  to  have  it.  But  the  use  of  the  language  of 
feeling  may  sometimes  be  the  very  means  of  getting 
it  and  increasing  it.  Certainly  it  is  our  duty  to  pray, 
even  when  we  do  not  feel  like  praying.  And  the 
effort  to  pray  may  rouse  the  spirit  of  prayer.  And 
certainly  it  is  our  duty  to  give,  even  though  we  have 
no  pleasure  in  giving.  But  the  giving  on  principle 
and  from  sense  of  duty  will  issue  in  the  joy  of  giving. 
So,  it  would  seem,  a  preacher  might  sometimes  assume 
the  language  of  feeling  to  waken  feeling.  We  are 
creatures  of  association.  And  association  has  a  deal 
to  do  with  all  our  mental  and  spiritual  moods. 

But  let  the  preacher  beware  of  the  hahit  of  feigning 
emotion.  Sooner  or  later  it  will  certainly  be  detected, 
and  the  discovered  sham  will  end  all  possibility  of  ef- 
fective appeal. 

It  may  be  urged  in  reply  to  this  that  actors  on  the 
stage  simulate  feeling,  and  show  the  absurdity  of  this 
rule.  But  the  objection  does  not  hold — and  for  two 
reasons.  First,  the  actor  is  known  as  acting  apart — 
that's  his  business.  Hence  this  feature  of  the  case 
does  not  affect  his  moral  character.  Secondly,  the 
true  actors,  who  stir  men's  souls  and  fire  their  passions, 
or  melt  them  to  tears,  are  those  who  so  throw  them- 
selves into  the  characters  they  represent,  that  for  the 
time  being  they  really  are  what  they  seem  to  he.  In- 
stead of  being  feigned,  the  action  and  passion,  are  in- 
tensely real.  Quintilian  says,  "  I  have  often  seen  actors, 
both  in  tragedy  and  comedy,  when  they  laid  aside 
their   masks,    after   going   through   some  distressing 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  43^; 

scene,  quit  the  stage  in  tears."  Talma,  a  great 
tragedian  of  former  years,  is  reported  as  saying,  '*  It 
has  been  imagined  that,  in  studying  my  parts,  I  place 
myself  before  a  glass ;  I  gesticulate — shake  the  ceiling 
of  the  room  with  my  cries,  and  in  the  evening,  on  the 
stage,  I  utter  intonations  I  learned  in  the  morning: 
prepared  inflections  and  sobs  of  which  I  know  the 
number.  It  is  an  error^''  he  adds.  "  Reflection  is 
one  of  the  greatest  parts  of  my  labour."  It  was  thus 
he  sought  to  absorb  himself  in  his  subject. 

Now  while  this  argument  is  a  terrible  arraignment 
of  the  theatre  itself  for  putting  plays  upon  the  stage 
whose  leading  characters  make  it  necessary  for  the 
actors  to  really  be,  for  the  time,  creatures  of  passion 
and  hate  and  intrigue  and  lust,  where  does  it  leave  the 
minister  who  is  feigning  an  emotion  he  does  not  feel, 
and  playing  a  sorrow  that  is  not  in  his  heart !  No, 
brethren,  let  us  be  sincere.  The  habit  of  simulating 
emotion^  all  shifts  aside,  is  sheer  hypocrisy. 

But  a  second  question  is  suggested  by  this  discussion. 
Should  feeling  in  the  pulpit  ever  express  itself  in 
tears  f 

There  should  be  no  weeping  for  effect.  Frequent 
weeping  is  a  weakness.  So  is  wholly  unrestrained 
weeping,  however  infrequent.  It  may  show  the 
violence  of  the  emotion,  but  it  also  reveals  the  weak- 
ness of  the  preacher.  But  deep  emotion  that  will 
break  out,  yet  which  is  partially  suppressed,  upon 
which  the  preacher  has  the  curb  and  bit,  will  melt  an 
audience  as  no  violent  manifestation  can  by  any  pos- 
sibility. "  Nothing  approaches  nearer  to  the  ridiculous 
than  an  attempt  to  be  affecting  which  is  at  the  same 
time  violent  and  unsuccessful." 


43^  A    The  Sermon 

But  argument  with  true  pathos  means  mastery. 
And  the  pathos  of  tears  is  sometimes  of  resistless 
power.  Yes,  weep  in  the  pulpit,  when  the  weeping  is 
for  real  grief  of  heart.  Paul  wept  many  tears  as  he 
warned  men.  He  told  the  Church,  "  even  weeping," 
of  some  who  were  the  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ. 
Augustine  wept,  and  moved  his  whole  audience  to 
tears  by  his  weeping.  But  these  occasions  were  rare, 
and  only  when  he  could  not  keep  down  the  sobs  of  his 
great  heart.  Artificial  tears  will  only  lead  men  to 
repeat  the  question  once  asked  concerning  a  preacher 
by  an  unaffected  auditor,  "  What  is  the  man  crying 
about  ?  "  And  the  question  will  only  evoke  the  same 
answer  that  was  given  then :  "If  you  were  up  there 
yourself,  and  had  as  little  to  say,  perhaps  you'd  be  cry- 
ing too ! " 

A  third  question  is  suggested   by  this  discussion. 
X  How  is  feeling  to  he  cultivated  f 

(a)  By  the  true  actor's  way,  is  one  answer.  By 
reflection — by  meditating^  bringing  the  occasion,  the 
object,  and  the  subject  repeatedly  before  the  mind, 
getting  the  total  meaning  and  bearing  of  the  subject, 
vitalizing  one's  self  with  it,  until  it  pervades  the 
whole  nature.  To  fill  the  heart  with  heat,  one  must- 
fill  the  brain  with  the  fuel  of  ideas. 

(5)  Another  way  to  cultivate  feeling  is  by  always 
exercising  the  sensibilities.  Choose  proper  ohjects  for 
quickening  the  sensibilities ;  and  then,  when  aroused, 
let  them  go  out  in  action.  A  sluggish  nature  will 
grow  tender  and  sensitive  by  this  process. 

(<?)  Still  another  way  to  cultivate  feeling  is  not  to 
be  afraid  of  it,  nor  of  manifesting  it.  Let  the  lips 
quiver  with  emotion,  let  the  eyes  suffuse  with  tears,  if 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  437 

they  will.  The  man  who  resolutely  fights  down  feel- 
ing, who  represses  it,  is  putting  out  the  fire  with  which 
he  can  best  kindle  and  inflame  souls,  and  move  them 
upward  and  Godward.  He  is  in  the  pulpit,  called 
there  of  God  to  help  men  and  women  to  a  better  life. 
If  he  fail  of  this,  he  would  better  get  out  of  the  pulpit. 
And  to  be  afraid  of  enthusiasm,  to  stamp  out  all  feeling, 
is  the  surest  way  to  fail. 

There  is  danger,  of  course,  that  the  feeling  may  not 
always  have  wisest  manifestation  ;  but  there  is  a  hun- 
dredfold greater  danger  of  deadening  all  feeling  and 
emptying  heart  and  soul  of  it,  both  of  preacher  and 
hearer,  by  its  constant  repression. 

Earnestjstess 

Earnestness  is  closely  akin  to  feeling — but  it  is 
something  more.  Its  best  and  most  enduring  basis  is 
a  profound  conviction  of  personal  responsibility  to 
God ;  and  a  deep  and  affectionate  solicitude  for  men. 
Its  specific  conditions  are  the  presence  of  some  definite 
and  worthy  object,  and  an  earnest  desire  to  accomplish 
that  object. 

These  may  not  always  make  delivery  effective,  but 
there  can  be  no  truly  effective  delivery  without  them. 
All  mannerism,  all  affectation,  and  very  much  of  awk- 
wardness, is  at  once  thrown  off  when  a  man  is  in 
dead  earnest.  And  mannerism,  affectation,  and  un- 
couthness  are  among  the  chief  vices  of  delivery. 

Earnestness  will  grow  in  the  preacher  with  the 
growth  of  deep,  personal  interest  in  the  work.  Par- 
ticular occasions  and  special  themes  will  develop  ear- 
nestness.    Clear  and  vivid  conception  of  divine  truth 


438  ^  The  Sermon 

tends  to  produce  it.  But,  above  all  else,  in  order  to 
earnestness  in  delivery,  it  is  essential  that  the  preacher 
should  he  an  earnest  man !  A  prevailingly  trifling 
spirit,  having  its  joke  at  every  turn,  taking  no  serious 
view  of  life,  having  no  heart-piercing  convictions  of 
the  illimitable  need  of  men,  whose  unvarying  bent  is 
to  levity  and  frivolity  even  in  the  presence  of  the  high 
aims  and  solemn  responsibilities  and  eternal  verities 
of  the  Word  and  work  of  God — such  a  spirit  is  fatal 
to  all  earnestness,  and  therefore,  in  the  end,  to  all  real 
pulpit  and  spiritual  power. 

This  is  not  antagonistic  to  cheerfulness.  Cheerful- 
ness should  certainly  mark  the  preacher.  He,  of  all 
men,  should  be  no  sombre-visaged,  sepulchral  witness 
to  the  beauty  and  joy  and  blessedness  of  the  gospel  of 
glad  tidings.  But  the  lightness  and  levity  and  inor- 
dinate trifling  of  some  men,  is  but  a  travesty  or  mock- 
ery of  Christian  cheerfulness  and  gladsomeness,  and  as 
^'  the  crackling  of  thorns  under  a  pot."  To  be  truly 
in  earnest  the  whole  spirit  must  be  imbued — the 
preacher  must  be  an  earnest  man.  And  this  is  a  chief 
element  of  power  in  delivery. 

AUTHOKITY 

This  is  not  that  so-called  "  dignity  of  the  pulpit," 
which  mistakes  solemn  mien  for  weight  of  character, 
and  which  puts  human  arrogance  in  place  of  divine 
sanction.  But  it  comes  from  a  vivid  sense  of  being 
God's  messenger,  and  speaking  in  the  name  of  God  the 
things  of  God. 

Jesus  spake  "  with  authority."  It  became  Him. 
And  it  becomes  every  man  standing  in  His  stead.     Paul 


Its  Ideal  Delivery  439 

urges  Titus  to  exhort  and  rebuke  with  all  authority. 
Not  that  the  person  of  the  preacher  is  anything;  but 
that  the  message  is  everything. 

And  if  the  preacher  can  say,  as  he  ought  to  say, 
"  That  which  we  have  heard,  which  we  have  seen  with 
our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon,  and  our  hands 
have  handled,  declare  we  unto  you  ;  " — in  other  words, 
if  he  can  speak  from  the  experienced  power  of  the 
great  truths  with  which  he  deals,  happy  is  he,  and 
mighty  is  he.  He  cannot  fail  of  power  in  public 
speech. 

Dante  wrote  and  looked  as  if  he  had  been  in  hell. 
The  secret  of  Edwards'  power  was  here.  He  looked 
and  spoke  as  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  with  a 
weighty  sense  of  the  matter  delivered.  There  was 
nothing  else  whatever  in  his  delivery  to  attract  atten- 
tion. But  this  was  everything.  Beecher  has  essen- 
tially this  idea.  He  says,  "  The  real  root  and  secret 
of  power  in  the  pulpit,  is  the  preaching  of  the  invisible 
God  to  the  people  as  an  ever-present  God."  Surely 
this  will  ever  be,  dynamically,  superior  to  all  else  in 
the  delivery  of  sacred  discourse.  Hence  the  need  of 
the  constant  cultivation  of  a  more  and  more  vivid  and 
abiding  sense  of  the  divine  realities  of  the  gospel 
message. 

1.  From  all  this  it  follows,  first,  that  delivery  is  a 
spiritual  work,  for  which  there  is  needed  the  constant 
help  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  His  aid  is  as  essential  in  the 
utterance  of  the  preacher's  message  as  in  its  composi- 
tion. We  degrade  it,  pervert  it,  rob  it  of  all  its  dis- 
tinctive and  peculiar  character,  by  ignoring  the  Holy 
Spirit's  agency.  He  must  enter  into  the  actual  labour 
of  the  ^xxhMc  presentation  of  the  truth,  even  as  he  en- 


440  ^  The  Sermon 

ters  into  the  actual  labour  of  the  ipriv Site  preparation 
of  the  truth. 
y  2.  It  follows,  secondly,  that  the  preacher  should 
prepare  for  composition  not  only,  but  for  delivery,  by 
prayer.  He  should  go  to  the  secret  place  of  prayer 
always,  and  be  alone  with  God  awhile,  before  going 
to  the  pulpit.  He  should  pray  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
may  move  him  to  appropriate  gesture  and  tone  of 
voice,  and  so  fill  him  with  his  theme  and  his  object, 
that  every  part  of  the  varied  and  subtle  instrumentality 
of  expression  shall  be  fitted  for  the  best  and  most  ef- 
fective utterance  of  the  truth  of  God. 

The  peculiar  vigour  and  vitality  of  Luther  did  not 
come  simply,  nor  chiefly,  from  his  anchorage  in  doc- 
trine ;  but  from  his  constant,  direct,  cherished,  intimate 
intercourse  with  God.  "  To  have  prayed  well  is  to 
have  studied  well,"  was  one  of  his  favourite  maxims. 
But  he  proved  that  it  was  as  applicable  to  delivery,  as 
to  study. 

We  all  know  there  is  a  certain  something  in  spirit- 
ual baptism  which  tells  in  posture  and  gesture  and 
voice.  It  does  not  make  men  alike  in  their  physical 
or  mental  qualities,  but  it  puts  a  certain  something  into 
their  delivery  that  spells  power.  If  the  closet  is  a 
throne^  the  pulpit  will  he. 


XXV 

THE  IDEAL  SERMON 


SYLLABUS 

If,  of  all  men,  the  man  in  the  ministry  should  have  "  ideals,"  and  if 
the  chief  instrument  in  the  ministry  is  tlie  sermon^  it  is  highly  im- 
portant that  the  minister  should  frame  for  himself  a  clear  conception 
of  the  ideal  sermon. 

1.  It  has  been  defined,  "The  sermon  that  does  the  business."  But 
this  is  no  definition.  It  is  simply  saj'ing  the  ideal  sermon  is  the  suc- 
cessful sermon.  And  the  preacher  must  wait  until  next  Sunday  to 
find  out  whether  it  is  ideal  or  not.  The  whole  thing  is  guess  work 
until  the  sermon  is  delivered. 

Moreover,  the  sermon  may  be  crowded  with  bad  grammar,  bad 
logic,  bad  exegesis.     If  God  uses  it,  presto  !  the  sermon  is  ideal  ! 

Moreover  again :  Where  does  this  definition  put  some  of  Christ's 
preaching  ?     It  certainly  sometimes  failed  to  do  the  business. 

And  still  again  :  An  ideal  surgeon,  with  an  old  jack-knife,  performs 
a  successful  surgical  operation.     Is  the  jack-knife  thereby  made  ideal? 

2.  Nor  does  enumerating  certain  good  qualities  define  an  ideal 
sermon,  unless  those  qualities  are  indispensable  to  a  sermon.  We  may 
say  an  ideal  sermon  is  logical,  or  illustrative,  and  these  are  good  qual- 
ities, but  a  sermon  may  be  ideal,  without  either  a  process  of  logic,  or 
an  illustration.  Things  not  vital  to  a  sermon  should  not  appear  in  an 
ideal  definition. 

An  ideal  sermon  is  just  what  a  sermon  is,  but  something  more.  Put 
that  "  something  more"  into  our  definition  of  the  sermon,  and  we 
have  the  definition  of  the  ideal  sermon. 

So  we  define  the  ideal  sermon,  a  formal  religious  discourse,  founded 
on  the  Word  of  God,  designed  to  save  men,  and  perfect  in  its  adapta- 
tion thereto. 

This  perfect  adaptation  involves  four  departmental  characteristics, 
vital  to  ideal  completeness. 

1.  Perfect  verbal  form,  secured  by  perspicuity,  precision,  energy,  and 
beauty  of  style. 

2,  Climax.  Literally,  a  ladder — a  way  of  ascent — a  slope  upward ; 
a  growth — a  progress — the  sign  and  proof  of  life  in  speech. 

What  makes  climax  ?     Unity,  order,  movement. 


3.  Perfect  method  of  approach  to  the  hearer.  Adaptation, 
adaptation. 

4.  Born  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  ideal  sermon  is  not  merely  a 
human,  but  a  divine-human  product. 

Two  things  would  thus  be  made  sure  to  the  sermon.  It  would  be 
true  to  the  truth  and  true  to  the  man. 

The  preacher  has  thus  made  two  apostolic  studies.  He  has  studied 
" to  show  himself  approved  unto  God  " — and  he  has  studied  "how 
rightly  to  divide  the  word  of  truth.  This  means  absolute  surrender 
to  the  law  of  adaptation ;  and  this  means  the  ideal  sermon. 


XXV 

THE  IDEAL  SERMON 

WE  open  this  chapter  in  the  discussion  of 
the  ideal  ministry  with  the  very  words 
with  which  we  opened  the  first  chapter. 
If  our  discussion  has  been  worth  anything,  it  has 
made  the  thought  stand  out  with  positive  distinctness 
and  emphasis  that  ''  of  all  men,  the  man  in  the  min- 
istry should  have  ideals."  The  ideal  "  consecration," 
the  ideal  ''  life,"  the  ideal  "  stewardship,"  the  ideal 
"Church;"  he  can  tolerate  nothing  less  than  these. 
They  are  set  before  him  by  his  Lord. 

Moreover,  we  trust  it  has  been  made  clear  that  for 
the  attainment  of  these  God-appointed  ideals,  one  of 
the  God-appointed  means,  and  the  chief,  is  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Word.  Hence,  as  the  chief  instrument  in 
this  business  of  preaching  is  the  sermon,  the  ideal 
sermon  comes  to  supreme  place  in  any  comprehensive 
thought  of  the  instruments  to  be  employed  in  making 
Christ's  kingdom  come.  Yet  of  those  whose  life  busi- 
ness it  is  to  preach  the  Gospel,  how  many  have  defi- 
nitely set  before  their  minds  as  a  thing  to  be  striven 
for,  and  more  and  more  fully  realized  week  by  week, 
their  idea  of  an  ideal  sermon  f  If,  in  any  circle  of 
clergymen,  a  dozen  were  asked  to  define  an  ideal  ser- 
mon, would  not  the  answer  be  likely  to  furnish  some 
surprises  of  hazy  indefiniteness  ?  Here  are  both  the 
reason  for  this  chapter  and  the  inspiration  of  it.     It  is 

445 


44^  The  Sermon 

an  effort  to  take  the  ideal  sermon  out  of  the  clouds, 
and  to  give  it  flesh  and  blood,  so  that  it  shall  stand 
out  as  a  thing  forever  to  be  aimed  at,  and,  if  possible, 
realized,  in  holding  forth  the  Word  of  life. 

Comprehensively,  as  we  have  already  seen,  there 
are  just  two  things  to  be  done  by  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel :  to  make  disciples,  and  then  to  make  these 
disciples  Christlike.  This  is  Christ's  own  unchange- 
able and  unchallengeable  commission.^  Every  evan- 
gelical Confession  of  Faith  embodies  essentially  these 
two  ideas.  The  Westminster  Confession  thus  puts  it : 
"  God  hath  given  the  ministry  for  the  gathering  and 
perfecting  of  the  saints  in  this  life,  to  the  end  of  the 
world."  ^ 

There  it  is — the  twofold  work  ;  gathering  and  per- 
fecting, the  work  of  rescue  and  the  work  of  transfor- 
mation ;  winning  over  an  old  creature  in  sin  to  be  a 
new  creature  in  Christ,  and  then  changing  that  new 
creature,  building  it  up  into  the  divine  image  from 
glory  to  glory  until  it  is  "  set  before  the  presence  of 
God's  glory  without  blemish  in  exceeding  joy."  This 
is  the  totality  of  the  work  of  an  ideal  gospel  min- 
istry. This  is  all  a  sermon  should  be  made  to  do. 
This  is  all  a  sermon  can  do. 

And  it  is  just  because  this  is  the  definite,  con- 
spicuous, indispensable  business  of  the  sermon,  that 
the  ideal  sermon  has  been  defined  the  sermon 
that  does  the  husiness ;  the  explicit  business  being 
to  bring  a  soul  to  Christ  or  to  make  a  soul  more 
like  Christ.  In  other  words,  the  ideal  sermon  is  the 
successful  sermon.     But  this  is  no  definition.     What 

^Matthew  28: 19-20. 

'  Confession  of  Faith,  Chap.  25,  Sec.  IV. 


The   Ideal  Sermon  447 

makes  it  succeed?  If  you  say  because  it  is  ideal — 
there  you  have  the  vicious  circle.  The  ideal  sermon 
is  the  successful  sermon,  and  the  successful  sermon  is 
the  ideal  sermon.  In  a  recent  symposium  on  the 
ideal  sermon,  the  effects  of  the  sermon,  in  one  form  or 
another,  were  cited  in  every  one  of  the  papers  pre- 
sented, in  proof,  or  lack  of  proof,  of  the  sermon's 
ideality.  Whereas  we  all  know  that  a  sermon  may  be 
bad  in  structure,  faulty  in  logic,  extravagant  in 
rhetoric  and  crude  in  thought,  and  yet  be  winged  of 
God  to  smite  a  sinner  between  the  joints  of  the  har- 
ness. 

That  is  to  say,  a  sermon  may  be  to  the  last  degree 
faulty,  and  yet  because  God  makes  it  effective,  it  is 
an  ideal  sermon !  But  this  plays  sad  havoc  with 
reason  and  common  sense,  and  Holy  Scripture.  It 
puts  the  ideality  of  the  sermon  outside  the  sermon,  not 
inside.  It  sets  no  standard  before  the  young  preacher 
making  his  first  venture.  Yes,  you  say — ''^  doing  the 
business  "  is  the  standard.  But  how  is  the  preacher  to 
hnow  that  it  will  do  the  business  ?  What  is  he  to  put 
into  it  to  fit  it  to  do  the  business  ?  Concerning  this, 
the  ideal  definition  is  silent.  It  answers  not  a  word. 
In  other  words,  with  this  definition,  ideal  sermonic 
work  is  pure  guesswork,  icntil  the  sermon  is  delivered  ! 

Moreover,  this  idea  that  the  ideal  sermon  is  the  ser- 
mon that  does  the  business,  is  out  of  gear  with  the  law 
of  faith  and  worhs.  Faith  without  works  is  dead,  we 
all  know.  Now  here  is  a  sermon  faulty  in  grammar,  in 
style,  in  logic,  in  exegesis.  We  are  not  only  to  trust 
in  God,  but  to  lieep  our  poioder  dry.  Bad  style,  bad 
grammar,  bad  logic,  bad  exegesis  are  wet  poioder. 
God  may  use  it — but  His  use  of  it  doesn't  make  wet 


448  The  Sermon 

powder  the  ideal  thing  in  starting  a  conflagration,  or 
firing  a  congregation. 

No,  we  are  not  quite  ready  yet  to  say,  "  Good-bye 
to  homiletics  and  the  art  of  sacred  discourse,"  and  to 
throw  all  laws  of  effective  sermonizing  to  the  winds. 
Unity ^  order,  and  ^movement,  the  three  prime  requisites 
of  all  mighty  public  speech  elsewhere,  are  still  the 
dominant  forces  in  constructive  sermonizing.  A 
sermon  cannot  have  one  theme  or  a  dozen  themes,  one 
object  or  a  dozen  objects,  or  no  object  at  all,  and  yet 
be  an  ideal  sermon. 

God's  Word  says,  '^  Study  to  show  thyself  approved 
unto  God,  a  workman  unshamed  by  his  work."  This 
command  means,  if  it  means  anything,  that  God's  min- 
isters are  to  be  wise  in  winning  souls.  They  are  to 
make  this  business  of  soul-winning  a  study.  They  are 
to  study  the  law  of  adaptation  ;  and  to  study  the  hearts 
and  lives  of  the  people  to  whom  they  preach  :  and  to 
study  the  Scriptures  for  the  fittest  word  to  meet  the 
ever-changing  need.  But  of  what  use  is  all  this  if  the 
ideal  sermon  is  simply  the  sermon  that  does  the  busi- 
ness ?  He  may  hand  out  any  old  ramshack  of  a 
sermon  to  God ;  and  if  He  uses  it,  presto !  the  ser- 
mon is  ideal !  Moreover,  if  doing  the  business  in 
preaching  is  the  proof  of  ideality,  where  does  it  put 
some  of  Chrisfs  preaching  ?  Take  the  rich  young 
man  who,  after  hearing  Christ,  went  away  sorrowful, 
for  he  had  great  possessions.  Take  the  Pharisees  who 
went  away  from  Him  gnashing  their  teeth.  Hear 
Christ's  own  sad  lament  over  Jerusalem  :  *'  How  oft 
would  I  hav^e  gathered  you  and  ye  would  not !  " 
Either  His  preaching  on  these  occasions  was  not  ideal, 
or  it  plays  the  mischief  with  the  notion  that  an  ideal 


The  Ideal  Sermon 


449 


sermon  is  the  sermon  that  does  the  business.  Let  us 
understand  once  for  all,  that  God's  use  of  an  instrument 
does  not  make  that  instrument  ideal.  A  surgeon  camp- 
ing out  in  the  wilderness,  or  present  at  a  railway  acci- 
dent, without  his  tools,  may  flip  out  a  jack-knife,  and 
perform  successfully  a  surgical  operation.  Yet  would 
that  make  the  jack-knife  an  ideal  instrument  in  surgery? 
Say  that  to  the  surgeon,  and  he  would  laugh  at  you  for 
your  folly.  But  wasn't  it  an  ideal  instrument  in  the 
circumstances  f  Ko,  indeed.  It  was  the  only  possible 
instrument,  and  it  did  the  business.  But  that  did  not 
transform  a  clumsy  old  jack-knife  into  an  ideal  surgical 
instrument.  And  what  about  the  surgeon  ?  It  was  the 
ideal  surgeon  that  did  the  business.  So  God,  in  His 
spiritual  surgery,  sometimes  takes  a  very  poor  ser- 
monic  instrument,  and  does  great  work  with  it ; 
yet  the  sermon  may  be  only  a  poor  old  jack-knife 
after  all. 

Moody's  bad  grammar  and  bald  form  and  mixed 
metaphors  and  fearful  leaps  of  logic  did  not  hinder  his 
sermons  from  doing  a  great  deal  of  business  for  God, 
nor  hinder  him  from  being  a  great  winner  of  souls. 
Yet  one  would  hardly  call  "  bad  grammar,"  and 
"  mixed  metaphor  "  and  "  bald  form  "  and  "  sad  leaps 
of  logic,"  ideal  points  in  a  sermon  ;  nor  would  one  call 
any  sermon  "  ideal "  that  was  crowded  with  these  points. 

No.  Yery  rude  may  be  the  instrument.  But  if 
God  plays  on  it,  out  will  come  some  heavenly  music. 
We  are  not  to  get  at  the  secret  of  an  ideal  sermon  by 
noting  and  studying  what  any  particular  sermon  has 
done.  The  man  behind  the  gun  has  a  good  deal  to  do 
with  the  execution  of  the  gun.  The  man  behind  the 
sermon  is  a  tremendous  factor  in  the  problem  of  ser- 


450  A   The  Sermon 

monic  effectiveness.  And  the  Holy  Spirit  is  never  to  be 
forgotten  in  any  case.  He  can  make  a  bird  in  the  air, 
or  a  half-idiot,  or  a  little  child  tell  the  matter,  to  the 
conquering  of  the  worst  situation  and  the  softening  of 
the  hardest  heart. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  instrument  may  be  perfect, 
but  the  man  handling  it  unfit.  Everything  may  be 
right  in  the  sermon,  yet  something  may  be  so  wrong 
in  the  sermonizer  that  God  will  not  bless  it  to  the 
hearers'  souls.  And,  still  again,  everything  may  be 
right  in  both  the  sermon  and  the  sermonizer,  and  yet 
an  Achan  in  the  camp  of  Israel  may  stay  the  doing  of 
the  King's  business.  Moreover,  God  Himself  tells  us 
He  has  chosen  "  weak,"  "  foolish  "  and  "  despised  " 
things,  yea,  "  things  that  are  not,"  to  bring  to  nought 
"  things  that  are."  Why  ?  "  That  no  flesh  should 
glory  before  God  ! "  So  we  find  Him  sometimes  with- 
holding His  blessing  from  the  really  eloquent  and 
scholarly,  and  naturally  convincing  discourse,  and 
making  mightily  effective  the  crude  and  stammering 
speech  of  some  unlearned  and  lowly  preacher  of  the 
Word — thus  putting  the  treasure  in  a  very  "  earthen 
vessel,"  that  "the  exceeding  greatness  of  the  power 
may  be  of  God,  and  not  from  ourselves." 

What  then  ?  Are  we  to  infer  that  it  makes  no  dif- 
ference what  kind  of  sermonic  instrument  we  use  in 
preaching,  so  long  as  it  is  God's  truth  we  preach  ?  By 
no  manner  of  means.  Kesults  are  not  arbitrary  in  this 
business  of  soul-saving  any  more  than  they  are  arbi- 
trary in  any  other  business.  God  is  not  always  at  war 
with  the  nature  of  things.  Grace  is  not  a  perpetual 
challenge  of  reason  and  common  sense.  Trust  in  God 
will  not  avail  us  much,  if  we  don't  keep  our  powder 


The  Ideal  Sermon 


451 


dry.  Let  us  hear  again  the  divine  injunction,  "Give 
diligence  to  present  thyself  approved  unto  God,  a 
workman  that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed,  hancllinir 
aright  the  word  of  truth."  That's  the  divine  order. 
It  is  presumption,  and  not  trust,  that  counts  on  any 
old  blunderbuss  to  do  execution  for  God. 

But  if  we  are  not  to  define  the  ideal  sermon  as 
one  that  does  the  business,  we  are  no  nearer  exact 
definition  by  enumerating  certain  specific  qualities 
that  may  be  good  in  themselves,  but  that  are  not  in- 
dispensable to  an  ideal  standard. 

For  example,  we  may  say  that  the  ideal  sermon  will 
be  logical — logical  being  here  used  in  the  sense  of 
proving  a  thing  to  be  true.  But  whether  the  sermon 
is  logical  or  not,  will  depend  altogether  on  whether 
logic  is  wanted  in  the  sermon.  One  point  of  an  ideal 
sermon  would  be  its  logic,  if  the  object  of  the  sermon 
were  demonstration.  But  if  the  object  of  the  sermon 
were  not  demonstration,  the  logic  would  be  good  for 
nothing.  In  other  words,  logic  in  a  sermon  is  a  dis- 
pensable element.  Some  of  the  best  sermons  ever 
written  have  been  without  the  slightest  trace  of  log- 
ical process.  They  proved  nothing.  They  simply 
exhibited  truth — made  it  plain  by  clear  statement  and 
apt  illustration. 

Again :  we  may  say  that  the  ideal  sermon  will  be 
marked  by  illustrations.  But  some  of  the  mightiest 
and  most  inherently  and  naturally  effective  sermons 
have  not  had  a  single  illustration  from  start  to  finish. 
They  have  been  simply  tracks  of  irresistible  logic, 
fitted  to  convince  the  sinner,  and  so  bring  him  to 
Christ;  or  fitted  to  convince  the  believer,  and  so 
anchor  him  immovably  in  some  truth  of  God. 


452  >  The  Sermon 

Clearly  the  things  that  are  not  vital  to  an  ideal 
sermon  should  not  appear  in  the  definition. 

But  what  is  a  sermon  ?  We  need  to  have  in  mind 
precisely  what  a  sermon  is,  before  we  can  accurately 
define  the  ideal  sermon.  We  have  already  defined 
the  sermon  as  a  formal  religious  discourse  founded 
on  the  Word  of  God  and  designed  to  save  men. 

With  this  definition  before  us,  we  are  surely  at  the 
door  of  the  definition  of  an  ideal  sermon.  An  ideal 
sermon  is  just  what  a  sermon  is,  but  soinething  more. 
For  a  sermon  may  answer  to  our  ideal  definition, 
and  yet  it  may  violate  every  known  law  of  structure, 
and  be  ungrammatical.  involved  in  style,  jumbled 
in  thought,  and  simply  chaotic  in  its  handling  of 
material. 

Therefore,  into  the  definition  of  the  sermon  that 
distinctly  separates  it  from  all  other  discourse  we 
must  put  the  words  that  make  the  ordinary  sermon 
an  ideal  sermon. 

So  we  define  the  ideal  sermon  as  a  formal  religious 
discourse  founded  on  the  Word  of  God,  designed  to 
save  men  ^Vid^  jperfect  in  its  adajptation  thereto. 

That  is  to  say  :  it  must  be  perfectly  adaj^ted  to  do 
the  thing  for  which  every  sermon  should  be  prepared, 
viz.,  to  bring  a  sinner  to  Christ,  or  to  make  him  more 
like  Christ ;  to  save  him  from  the  penalty  of  sin,  or 
from  the  pollution  and  power  of  sin.  In  either  case, 
and  in  any  case,  to  move  his  will  and  to  move  it  God- 
ward.  If  every  sermon  ought  to  be  constructed  that 
some  man  or  men  may  be  reconstructed — if  every 
true  sermon  must  mean,  in  its  intent  and  aim,  changed 
hearts  and  lives,  then  perfect  adaptation  to  do  that 
thing  is  the  all  in  all  of  an  ideal  sermon.     It  then 


The  Ideal  Sermon  453 

becomes  an  instrument  without  a  flaw,  a  word  exactly 
fitted  to  meet  a  specific  definite  need. 

Is  such  a  sermon  possible?  Not  in  the  present 
limitations  of  the  human  mind.  But  approximations 
to  it  are  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of  every  man  who 
preaches. 

Let  us  see  now  if  we  can  make  this  ideal  sermon 
stand  out  before  us  as  a  distinct  object  of  thought. 
Let  us  try  to  give  it  clear  and  positive  characteristics 
by  which  it  may  be  known — characteristics  that  shall 
lift  it  out  of  the  level  of  the  common,  and  make  it  a 
thing  to  be  prayed  for,  and  toiled  for,  while  God  gives 
us  the  power  of  utterance. 

Manifestly,  minute  details  here  would  only  bewilder 
us.  We  want  generic  qualities,  comprehensive  of  all 
excellencies,  and  covering  groups  of  qualities.  There 
are  four  departmental  characteristics  that  go  to  make 
up  the  ideal  sermon,  and  that  must  be  present  in  every 
sermon  laying  any  claim  to  ideal  completeness.  The 
first  concerns  the  outward  verbal  form  of  the  sermon  • 
the  second  the  inner  structure  of  the  sermon  ;  the  third 
the  hearer  it  seeks  to  reach  and  save ;  and  the  fourth, 
the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  sermonic  process. 

The  first  departmental  characteristic  of  the  ideal 
sermon  is  perfect  verhal  form.  It  must  make  its 
meaning  stare  the  hearer  in  the  face.  In  other  words, 
the  style  will  be  so  clear  and  vivid  and  energetic  that 
it  will  let  the  hearer  see  the  thought  just  as  the  thinker 
thinks  it.  The  style  of  the  sermon  will  have  the 
quality  of  being  seen  through  ;  that  is,  jjerspicuity , 
and  the  quality  of  definite,  exact  outline ;  that  is, 
precision ;  and  the  qualit}^  that  gives  momentum  to 
thought  and  makes  it  impinge  ;  that  is,  energy  /  and 


454  "^  The  Sermon 

the  quality  that  clothes  thought  with  rhetorical  at- 
tractiveness ;  that  is  heaioty.  These  are  the  elements, 
perspicuity,  precision,  energy,  and  beauty,  constituting 
that  perfection  of  style  which  does  for  the  thoughts 
what  a  pure  atmosphere  does  for  the  stars — makes 
them  look  at  you  with  unwonted  depth  and  breadth 
of  meaning,  as  if  all  their  glory  were  in  their  eyes  and 
struggling  for  expression. 

If  the  preacher  would  know  whether  the  sermon 
prepared  for  next  Sunday  had  been  given  this  ideal 
verbal  form,  he  can  easily  test  the  matter  by  asking 
himself  this  question  :  If  I  were  in  the  pew,  with  just 
the  mental  grasp  and  culture  of  the  ordinary  hearer, 
listening  to  this  sermon,  would  its  meaning  from  start 
to  finish  be  perfectly  clear  to  me  ?  We  fancy,  this 
test  honestly  applied,  would  transform  many  a  sermon, 
break  up  many  a  long  sentence,  drop  out  some  big 
words,  and  make  people  wonder  what  had  happened 
to  the  sermonizer  ! 

A  second  vital  and  departmental  characteristic  of 
the  ideal  sermon  is  clhnax. 

What  is  climax  ?  Literally,  a  ladder.  And  a 
ladder  is  for  climbing.  It  is  nothing  unless  a  way 
upward  ;  a  way  of  ascent.  Climax,  in  the  sermon,  is 
just  this :  a  way  of  ascent,  a  slope  upward  to  some 
higher  and  better  thing.  Therefore,  from  introduction 
to  conclusion,  the  sermon  must  be  a  growth,  a  progress, 
a  gathering  force,  having  possible  recessions,  like  the 
mighty  river,  but  thereby  only  increasing  in  momentum 
and  inspiring  power  as  it  presses  on.  This  is  real 
climax — the  sign  and  proof  of  life  in  speech,  the 
mighty  thing  that,  under  God,  moves  and  swaj^s  and 
uplifts  and  conquers.     It  marks  every  great  sermon. 


The  Ideal  Sermon 


455 


The  true  preacher  must  therefore  rid  himself  of  the 
idea — the  very  common  and  erroneous  idea — that 
somewhere  in  his  sermon  he  is  to  reach  his  climax  ; 
i.  e.,  his  highest,  most  impressive,  point.  This  is  a  true 
meaning  of  the  word  climax ;  but  a  derived  and 
secondary  meaning.  The  primary  and  vital  meaning 
of  the  word  is  that  which  makes  the  entire  sermon  a 
growing,  cumulative  force.  So  the  sermon  itself  must 
be  a  climax ;  i.  e.,  an  ascending  ladder.  And  just 
as  a  man  reaches  a  ladder  for  ascent  when  his  foot 
touches  the  lowest  round,  so  a  preacher  reaches  his 
climax  ivhe7i  he  begins  his  sermon  !  And  onward  and 
upward  he  passes  to  the  height  of  his  climax,  as  with 
increasing  intensity  of  earnestness  and  power  of 
pathos  he  commands  thought  and  expression  for  final 
victory. 

]N"ow,  what  makes  climax  ?  What  are  the  secrets 
of  it,  that  enter  into  it,  contribute  to  it,  and  render 
it  possible — that  constitute  the  attending  and  animat- 
ing genius  of  climax  ?  They  are  the  three  cardinal, 
structural  qualities  of  the  sermon— ^^^l^^5y,  order,  and 
movevient. 

Sermonic  unity  demands  a  single  specific  theme, 
developed  for  the  exclusive  accomplishment  of  a 
specific  definite  object,  i.  e.,  it  demands  a  subject,  an 
ohject,  and  2i  plan. 

Sermonic  order  demands  that  the  sermon  say  just 
now  what  ought  just  now  to  be  said ;  i.  e.,  materials  all 
marshalled  and  arranged  for  the  best  effect. 

Sermonic  movement  demands  un])roken  continuity 
and  persistent  progress ;  i.  e.,  not  a  halt,  nor  an  aside, 
from  start  to  finish. 

We  venture  to  affirm  there  is  nothin":  in  the  entire 


456  >  The  Sermon 

field  of  homiletic  discussion  that  would  so  contribute 
to  pulpit  efficiency  as  the  constant  and  masterful  com- 
mand of  these  structural  qualities  of  sacred  discourse. 
Humanly  speaking,  here  lie  the  chief  secrets  of  pulpit 
power.  To  have  a  single  purpose  dominate  through 
the  entire  sermon  from  the  first  word  of  introduction 
to  the  final  word  of  appeal ;  to  have  order  reign 
throughout — every  thought  and  illustration,  every  in- 
cident and  argument  marshalled  to  its  place ;  and  to 
have  a  constant  flow — a  steady  onward  movement  in 
the  sermon,  bearing  resistlessly  to  the  goal — these 
three  are  vital  to  climax.  And  climax  is  one  of  the 
shining  glories,  as  well  as  one  of  the  essential  ele- 
ments, of  the  ideal  sermon.  Instruction,  only  to  per- 
suade thereby ;  truth,  only  to  transform  thereby ; 
aesthetic  and  homiletic,  only  and  evermore  to  move 
the  will,  so  that  it  shall  be  more  and  more  like  the 
will  of  God — this  is  the  essential  function,  as  it  is  the 
lofty  ideal,  of  all  true  sermonizing.  A  new  creature 
in  Christ  Jesus  is  its  first  and  last  and  supreme  intent. 
And  this  is  redemption's  intent.  And  thus  the  sub- 
lime purpose  of  God's  whole  plan  of  salvation  crowds 
itself  into  every  true  sermon,  and  gets  its  consummate 
expression  in  the  ideal  sermon. 

A  third  departmental  characteristic  of  the  ideal 
sermon  is  a  jperfect  method  of  approach  to  the  hearers 
it  is  seehing  to  reach  and  save.  The  sermon  must  not 
only  be  true  to  the  truth  it  preaches,  and  to  the  man 
that  preaches  it,  but  suited  in  its  matter  and  method 
to  the  man  or  men  for  whom  it  is  especially  designed. 

Men  take  in  truth  in  different  forms,  and  by  dif- 
ferent avenues  or  sides  of  their  minds.  Some  are 
unemotional.     They  don't  like  melting  moods  or  pa- 


The  Ideal  Sermon  457 

thetic  appeals.  They  delight  in  argument,  and  the 
less  accompanied  with  emotional  outplay  the  better 
they  like  it.  Others  are  full  of  pathos  :  easily  touched 
and  moved.  Truth  is  floated  in  to  them  on  the  water-  "- 
courses  of  their  tears.  They  are  seldom,  if  ever, 
reached  in  any  other  way.  Some  are  naturally  bel- 
ligerent, "smelling  the  battle  afar  off,"  delighting  in 
controversy.  You  will  not  conciliate  and  disarm  such 
natures  by  rushing  into  their  presence  flaunting  a 
battle-flag  and  shouting  a  battle-cry.  Some  are  stolid, 
and  need  heroic  treatment.  They  will  bear  the  thun- 
derings  of  a  big  Sinai.  On  the  other  hand,  those  of 
excitable  temperament,  timid,  shrinking,  sensitive  na- 
tures, cannot  bear  and  do  not  need  the  thundering  of 
any  Sinai.  It  would  rouse  a  fearful  tempest  in  them, 
or  crush  all  hope  and  heart  out  of  them.  Again,  some 
delight  in  the  play  of  the  imagination  :  in  the  artistic 
touch  of  fancy.  Now  to  insist  on  feeding  such  minds 
with  bare  syllogisms,  as  one  would  set  a  system  of 
theological  truth  before  an  examining  committee, 
would  be  like  reducing  "  Paradise  Lost "  to  a  series  of 
propositions  in  Euclid  for  the  purpose  of  exhibiting 
its  beauties  to  a  lover  of  poetic  forms. 

Hence  it  follows  that  the  ideal  sermon  to  one  hearer 
may  not  be  the  ideal  sermon  to  another  hearer.  Adaj)- 
tation  !  Adaptation  !  A  careful  study  of  this  word 
in  its  relation  to  pulpit  and  pew  might  reveal  a  mul- 
titude of  homiletic  sins.  How  it  would  show  the 
preacher  who  prides  himself  on  his  logic,  and  who 
comes  to  his  pulpit  with  a  battering-ram  of  argument 
every  Sabbath,  that  there  are  those  in  the  pews  who 
care  nothing  for  his  logic,  and  who  are  no  more  moved 
by  it  than  they  would  be  by  a  logarithm.     And  how 


458  >  The  Sermon 

it  would  show  the  preacher  who  is  forever  letting  his 
soul  "  take  wings  and  fly  • '  in  the  joy  and  abandon  of 
a  vigorous  imagination,  that  there  are  plain  matter-of- 
fact  hearers  before  him  who  are  wondering  what  in 
the  world  he  is  talking  about.  And  how  it  would 
show  the  preacher  who  is  forever  making  a  downy 
pillow  of  the  Gospel  and  shying  it  at  people  week  by 
week,  that  there  are  possibly  listening  hearers  in  his 
congregation,  whether  from  Millionnaire  Avenue  or 
Little  Hell,  whose  least  desire  or  need  is  a  gospel 
lullaby. 

A  fourth  departmental  characteristic  of  the  ideal 
sermon  is  that  it  be  horn  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  If  its 
subject-matter  is  Holy  Scripture,  and  if  its  object  is  sal- 
vation from  sin,  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that  the  making 
of  sermons  is  a  business  with  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
must  have  vital  connection.  For  to  interpret  the 
Word  of  God,  and  to  make  men  like  God  is  the  Holy 
Spirit's  exclusive  office.  And  if  God  has  determined 
by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  men,  the  ser- 
monic  instrument  must  be  of  the  Spirit's  fashioning, 
to  be  best  fitted  to  its  end. 

The  ideal  sermon  is,  therefore,  not  merely  a  human, 
but  a  divine-human  product.  It  is  the  truth  of  God 
through  human  personality.  And  the  Spirit  of  God 
should  sovereignly  preside  in  its  construction  and  use 
from  beginning  to  end  :  from  the  selection  of  the  text 
down  through  all  the  process  of  sermonic  develop- 
ment, the  choice  of  a  theme,  the  formation  of  a  plan, 
and  the  collection  and  arrangement  of  materials,  to 
the  final  application  of  the  truth  to  the  hearer's  heart. 
"We  think  too  exclusively  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  agency 
at  the  contact  of  the  sermon  with  the  hearer's  mind 


The  Ideal  Sermon  459 

and  conscience  in  the  public  assembly.  lie  should  be 
an  invoked  and  expected  co-worker  throughout  the 
whole  process  of  selection,  analysis,  composition,  and 
delivery. 

Two  things  would  be  made  sure  to  the  sermon  thus 
born  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  First,  it  would  be  true  to 
the  truth.  The  Holy  Spirit  would  see  to  it  that  it  re- 
flected God's  mind,  and  kept  the  balances  of  Holy 
Sci'ipture  throughout  all  the  path  of  discussion  and 
appeal.  By  this  is  not  meant  absolute  infallibility ; 
but  that  general  guidance  which  would  secure  the  pro- 
portions and  relations  and  significance  of  truth,  so  that 
truth  should  not  suffer  by  human  handling,  nor  mar 
the  image  of  God  being  wrought  out  by  it  in  the  soul 
of  the  hearer.  The  presence  and  gracious  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  humbly  and  earnestly  sought  at  every 
step  of  the  sermonic  way,  would  surely  keep  the  ser- 
mon true  to  the  truth= 

But  it  would  also  be  true  to  the  man.  For  the 
Holy  Spirit  always  preserves  and  honours  the  indi- 
viduality of  those  through  whom  He  speaks.  Even  in- 
fallible inspiration  made  no  copyists.  Paul  never 
wrote  like  Peter ;  nor  Peter  like  John ;  nor  John  like 
Isaiah. 

The  ideal  sermon,  therefore,  born  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  will  be  stamped  through  and  through  with  the 
individuality  of  its  human  author,  and  yet  be  kept  ut- 
terly true  to  God's  Word.  The  un warped  truth  and 
the  unwarped  soul  will  go  together.  The  person  will 
be  in  the  message,  and  the  message  will  be  in  the  per- 
son— divine  truth  through  human  personality  ;  neither 
of  them  twisted  or  bent  so  as  to  be  out  of  gear  with 
the  Book  or  the  man. 


460  ^  The  Sermon 

Does  not  this  group  all  that  is  needful  to  make  the 
ideal  sermon  stand  out  before  us  as  a  distinct  object  of 
thought — a  thing  to  be  grasped,  to  be  taken  out  of  the 
clouds,  and  to  be  given  embodiment  in  sermonic  flesh 
and  blood  ?  Here  are  the  four  indispensable  marks  of 
the  ideal  sermon  :  (1)  It  will  let  the  hearer  see  the 
thought  just  as  the  thinker  thinks  it ;  being  stamped 
all  through  with  perspicuity,  precision,  energy,  and 
rhetorical  beauty  of  style.  (2)  It  will  be  adapted  to 
reach  the  hearer  with  increasing  power  as  it  proceeds, 
being  pervaded  by  the  animating  genius  of  climax. 
(3)  It  will  be  an  actual  adjustment  each  week  to  the 
ever-changing  condition  of  the  soul  the  preacher  is 
seeking  to  reach  and  save.  (4)  And  so  it  will  knock 
at  the  door  that  is  most  likely  to  open  to  the  truth  • 
whether  the  door  of  reason,  or  the  door  of  imagination, 
or  the  door  of  conscience,  or  the  door  of  the  affectional 
nature,  or  the  door  of  plain,  straightforward,  practical 
common  sense. 

And  this  suggests  the  answer  to  the  charge  that  ideal 
sermonizing  would  allow  no  variety  in  preaching.  If 
we  all  build  after  a  certain  model,  it  is  asked,  what 
possible  room  can  there  be  for  variety  ?  The  answer 
is  that  the  themes  discussed,  the  objects  aimed  at,  the 
condition  of  the  hearers,  all  make  room  and  demand 
for  a  large  variety.  Then  also,  tracks  of  resistless 
logic,  wealth  of  imagination,  appeals  to  the  heart,  to 
the  conscience,  to  the  judgment;  and  plain,  homely 
but  mighty  matters  of  fact — all  these  make  possible 
an  almost  limitless  variety.  But  however  sermons 
may  differ  in  these  respects,  every  ideal  sermon  will 
have — must  have,  perfect  verbal  form,  perfect  climax, 
perfect  method  of  approach  to  the  hearers  aimed  at, 


The  Ideal  Sermon  461 

and  the  blessed  cooperating  agency  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  And  what  possible  call  or  justification  can 
there  be  for  variety  that  is  secured  only  by  bad 
verbal  form,  or  by  anti-climax,  or  by  unfit  approach, 
or  by  lack  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  presence  and  guid- 
ance! 

"  Let  us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter." 
Before  the  preacher  begins  his  week's  sermonic  work, 
before  he  starts  on  the  search  of  a  theme  or  a  text, 
should  he  not,  by  a  distinct  and  positive  act  of  surren- 
der, submit  himself  to  God,  that  God  may  lead  him 
through  the  whole  process  of  preparation  ?  Let  him 
make  it  his  daily  business  to  take  God  into  the  business, 
that  each  sermon  may  be  in  a  true  and  blessed  sense 
divinely  born — the  product,  through  the  human  spirit, 
of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Then  let  him  gather  and  organize 
his  materials,  fit  each  to  each,  make  each  point  a  step 
to  higher  vantage  and  increasing  force,  and  allow  no 
alluring  by-path  to  tempt  him  to  the  least  abandon- 
ment of  his  single  theme  and  his  exalted  purpose ;  so 
that  the  sermon  shall  grow  in  power  as  it  proceeds. 
Then  let  him  give  his  thought  embodiment  in  words 
that  shall  clearly  and  vividly  and  mightily  tell  his 
thought. 

He  has  thus  made  two  apostolic  studies.  He  has 
studied  "  to  show  himself  approved  unto  God,"  and  he 
has  studied  how"  rightly  to  divide  the  word  of  truth." 
He  has  fitted  the  arrow  for  its  flight.  God  only  can 
send  it  home.  Hear  the  greatest  of  human  preachers  : 
"  I  planted,  ApoUos  watered.  God  gave  the  increase. 
So  then,  neither  is  he  that  planteth  anything,  neither 
he  that  watereth,  but  God  that  gave  the  increase." 
Be  willing,  O  man  of  God,  to  become  all  things  to  all 


462  >   The  Sermon 

men,  that  you  may  by  all  means  save  some.  This 
means  absolute  surrender  to  the  law  of  adaptation. 
And  this  means 

The  Ideal  Sermon, 


XXVI 

THE  CEUCIAL  QUESTI0:N^  IN  APPLIED  THE- 
OLOGY:  WHY  ARE  NOT  MORE  SOULS 
BROUGHT    TO    CHRIST    BY    THE    SERMON? 


SYLLABUS 

Question  distinctly  for  the  preacher.  Broadly  speaking  there  are 
only  two  kinds  of  sermons ;  soul-rescuing,  and  soul-building.  And 
the  challenging  question  is,  Why  are  not  more  souls  brought  to 
Christ  by  the  sermons  ? 

1.  Does  the  reason  lie  in  the  divinepurpose  f 

2.  Is  it  to  be  found  in  the  present  conditions  of  society  ? 

3.  Is  it  because  evangelistic  preaching  is  thought  to  be  not  quite 

up  to  the  level  of  the  teaching  work  of  the  ministry  ? 
The  characterizing  features  of  a  sermon  that  is  after  a  soul. 

1.  Such  a  sermon  is  come,  like  the  Master,  to  call  a  sinner  to  re- 

pentance. 

2.  Such  a  sermon  is  come,  like  the  Master,   to  seek  and  save  the 

lost. 

3.  Such  a  sermon  has  no  "  to-morrow  "  in  it. 

4.  Such  a  sermon   is   not  a  bow  drawn  at  a  venture.     It  means 

singleness  of  aim,  knowledge  of  the  actual  human  nature  and 
adaptation  thereto. 

5.  Such  a  sermon  is  filled  with  compassion. 
Practical  test  applied  to  the  sermon  already  preached. 
The  last  command  of  the  Master. 


XXVI 

THE  CRUCIAL  QUESTION  IX  APPLIED  THE- 
OLOGY:  WHY  ARE  NOT  MORE  SOULS 
BROUGHT    TO    CHRIST    BY    THE    SERMON? 

THIS  question  is  distinctly  and  exclusively  for 
the  preacher.  Whatever  may  be  true  as  to 
the  responsibility  of  the  Church,  or  of  any 
organized  agency  in  the  Church,  or  of  any  individual 
member  of  the  Church,  for  the  paucity  of  results  in 
the  effort  to  bring  the  world  to  Christ,  this  present 
inquiry  is  meant  only  for  the  man  who  is  set  apart  to 
preach  the  Gospel ;  and  it  is  meant  for  him  only  as  a 
maker  and  deliverer  of  sermons.  If  each  minister 
were  to  ask,  Why  are  not  my  sermons  bringing  more 
souls  to  Christ,  the  question  would  take  its  most  per- 
sonal and  practical  form. 

Broadly  speaking,  and  in  the  sense  of  official  Chris- 
tian ambassadorship,  there  are  only  two  kinds  of 
preaching  ;  soul-rescuing  preaching  and  soul-building 
preaching — or  sermons  designed  and  adapted  to  win 
men  to  Christ,  and  sermons  designed  and  adapted  to 
make  men  like  Christ  after  they  have  been  won  to 
Him.  Each  may  sometimes  do  the  other's  work. 
Preaching  addressed  exclusively  to  Christians,  may 
win  an  unbeliever;  and  preaching  to  the  impenitent 
may  prove  very  manna  from  heaven  to  some  child  of 
God.  But  each  has  its  normal  sphere  of  operation, 
and  is  likely  to  do  its  business  in  that  sphere. 

465 


466  -  The  Sermon 

Why  are  not  more  souls  hrought  to  Christ  hy  preach- 
ing f 

1.  Does  the  reason  lie  in  the  divine  i)urjposef  This 
view  is  not  without  its  advocates.  More  souls  are  not 
saved,  it  has  been  said,  because  more  souls  have  not 
been  elected  to  be  saved. 

But  this  places  the  responsibility  of  paucity  of  re- 
sults in  the  ministry  on  God !  It  makes  wisdom  in 
winning  souls  impossible.  It  puts  arbitrariness  in  the 
place  of  voluntariness.  It  takes  the  heart  out  of 
Christ's  word,  "  Go  ye  and  compel  them  to  come  in." 
It  clears  every  minister's  skirts  now  and  forever  from 
the  blood  of  souls. 

Let  us  at  once  and  to  the  fullest  degree  recognize, 
accept,  and  glory  in  the  divine  sovereignty.  God  is 
sovereign.  He  has  ordained  whatsoever  comes  to 
pass.  But  He  is  sovereign  in  the  midst  of  voluntary 
and  responsible  human  agencies,  and  through  them. 
His  sovereignty  does  not  make  a  Christian  ambassador 
an  automaton,  nor  the  people  to  whom  he  preaches, 
lumps  of  putty  !  God  is  sovereign.  But  He  is  not 
always  at  war  with  the  nature  of  things.  And  the 
sermon  fitted  under  God  to  do  a  specific  thing  is  the 
sermon  that  is  likely  under  God  to  do  that  specific 
thing. 

When  we  have  furnished  the  absolutely  fittest  ser- 
monic  instrument  to  do  this  work  of  rescue,  and  have 
furnished  it  often  enough  to  show  that  unsaved  souls 
lie  as  a  burden  on  our  hearts,  and  that  we  are  ever  try- 
ing to  make  disciples  of  them  in  obedience  to  Christ's 
last  command  ;  when  we  have  exhausted  the  possibili- 
ties of  faith  and  prayer,  and  have  so  taken  Christ  with 
us  into  the  study  to  prepare  the  sermon  for  rescue,  and 


Why  Not  a  Soul  Winner  467 

have  so  taken  Christ  with  us  into  the  pulpit  to  preach 
the  sermon  for  rescue,  that  every  demand  of  faith  and 
love  and  devotion  and  consecration  has  been  met — 
then  we  may  fall  back  on  the  sovereignty  of  God 
and  say,  as  Christ  Himself  once  said  in  facing  this 
same  mystery,  "  Even  so,  Father,  for  so  it  seemeth 
good  in  Thy  sight."  But  U7itil  all  this  has  been  done, 
what  right  have  we  to  fly  to  God's  sovereignty  as  a 
shelter  for  our  inefficiency  ?  "  Fear  not,"  said  God  to 
Paul,  when  this  great  winner  of  souls  was  appalled  by 
the  obstacles  before  him,  "  Fear  not,  I  have  much  peo- 
ple in  this  city."  Suppose  God  had  said,  "  Fear  not ; 
the  number  of  people  to  be  saved  in  this  city  is  fixed, 
and  cannot  be  either  increased  or  diminished  by  any 
effort  w^hatsoever,"  would  that  have  been  a  stimulant 
to  this  burdened  soul  ?  If  it  is  doctrinally  sound  to 
say,  "  Work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling,  for  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you  to  will 
and  to  work,"  then  it  is  doctrinally  sound  to  say, 
"  Work  out  the  salvation  of  others  with  fear  and 
trembling,  for  it  is  God  that  worketh  through  you 
both  to  will  and  to  work."  In  other  words,  that  God 
is  sovereign  is  a  stimulant  to  all-abounding  activity 
in  soul-winning,  and  never,  never  a  soothing  salve  to 
cover  our  failures  in  soul-winning. 

No  I  It  will  not  be  by  this  road  that  we  shall  get 
a  satisfactory  answer  to  our  question,  Why  are  not 
more  souls  brought  to  Christ  by  preaching  ? 

2.  Let  us  then  ask  if  the  reason  is  to  be  found  in 
the  present  conditions  of  society— in  the  difficulties 
that  confront  us,  in  the  rush  and  roar  of  our  modern 
life,  in  the  fact  that  men  are  gone  mad  on  their  idols  ? 
Concede  all  that  may  be  claimed — the  insane  race  for 


468  X  The  Sermon 

riches,  the  hells  of  hate  open-mouthed  and  rampant, 
belching  out  their  sin  and  shame,  the  confederated 
iniquit}^  that  is  taking  colossal  form,  the  subtle,  in- 
sidious, wide-spread  worldly-mindedness — concede  it 
all,  yet  the  Word  of  God  is  not  bound.  Christ  is  not 
dead.  The  Holy  Spirit  has  not  been  shorn  of  His 
power  to  convince  this  world  of  sin.  If  souls  cannot 
be  won  to  Christ  now,  because  of  the  embattled  hosts 
of  principalities  and  powers  and  rulers  of  darkness, 
then  they  can  never  be  won,  and  the  battle  with  sin 
is  already  and  irretrievably  lost.  But  souls  can  be 
won.  Behind  every  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  this 
assuring,  triumphant,  omnipotent  word  of  Jesus  Christ : 
"  All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  Me  in  heaven 
and  on  earth ;  go  ye,  therefore,  and  make  disciples." 
'No,  the  reason  why  more  souls  are  not  brought  to 
Christ  by  our  preaching  is  not  to  be  found  in  the 
giant  and  defiant  iniquities  that  are  on  every  side  of  us. 

Where,  then,  shall  we  look  for  the  secret  of  paucity 
of  results  in  this  work  of  rescue  ?  If  not  in  the  sov- 
ereignty of  God,  nor  in  the  hatred  and  hardness  of 
human  hearts,  let  us  turn  the  search-light  on  the  pul- 
pit itself  and  see  if  it  is  not  there. 

3.  Is  it  because  of  a  belief,  hardly  confessed  to 
our  secret  self  and  rarely,  if  ever,  openly  avowed,  that 
evangelistic  preaching  is  not  quite  up  to  the  level  of 
the  teaching  work  of  the  ministry — the  great  business 
of  unfolding  and  expounding  the  truth  to  God's  saints  ? 
Is  this  the  reason  why  our  preaching  is  not  more  fruit- 
ful in  soul-winning  ? 

We  all  know  that  the  estimate  we  put  upon  any 
work  will  go  far  to  determine  our  joy  in  it,  our  power, 
and  our  victory.    The  man  who  thinks  his  work  petty 


Why  Not  a  Soul   Winner  469 

is  not  likely  to  spangle  the  heavens  with  the  glory  of 
it.  If  he  counts  it  great  and  noble,  nobility  is  likely 
to  shine  in  the  very  crudeness  of  his  endeavour. 

So  a  low  estimate  of  gospel  rescue- work  is  likely  to 
tell  disastrously  on  the  work  of  rescue.  If  we  regard 
it  as  something  minor  and  subsidiary  and  treat  it  as 
an  "  aside  "  of  the  great  work  of  the  ministry ;  if  we 
go  to  it  with  the  half-conscious  conviction  that  it  is 
elementary — "the  word  of  the  mere  beginnings  of 
Christ" — and  that  it  does  not  allow  us  the  full  swing 
of  our  powers  in  grappling  with  the  profound  doc- 
trines of  God,  and  with  the  complex  social  and  econ- 
omic problems  that  now  confront  the  Church,  then 
we  have  lighted  on  one  secret  at  least  of  our  bringing 
so  few  souls  to  Christ  by  preaching.  It  is  not  in  the 
nature  of  mind  to  be  stirred  deeply  and  moved  to 
mighty  effort  by  that  which  is  deemed  of  compara- 
tively minor  importance.  You  cannot  fly  a  kite  as 
you  would  seek  to  save  a  soul. 

What,  then,  is  our  view  of  gospel  rescue-work? 
What  estimate  do  we  put  on  evangelistic  effort  ?  Do 
we  hold  that  bringing  souls  to  Christ  is  as  much  an 
obligation  and  as  great  a  privilege  as  feeding  the  flock 
of  God?  Or  do  we  regard  it  as  an  "aside" — some- 
thing not  to  be  wholly  ignored  indeed,  but  requiring 
only  occasional  attention,  and  that  can  very  well  be 
done  at  special  seasons,  and  commonly  by  an  evan- 
gelist ? 

The  view  we  really  hold  in  this  matter  has  already 
had  expression  in  our  practice.  Let  us,  therefore,  have 
the  testimony  of  the  facts. 

Evangelistic  preaching  is  preaching  whose  exclusive 
purpose   is   to    bring   souls   to   Christ.      Evangelistic 


470  ^    The  Sermon 

services  are  everywhere  understood  to  mean  services 
exclusively  for  rescue.  The  announcement  that  a 
certain  church  will  hold  a  series  of  evangelistic  meet- 
ings is,  therefore,  the  direct  and  clear  proof  that  such 
meetings  are  out  of  the  ordinary  ;  that  they  are  special, 
exceptional,  resorted  to  under  a  kind  of  stress,  as  if  to 
give  easement  to  conscience  or  to  gratify  a  local  desire, 
but  to  be  soon  dropped  that  the  regular  work  of  the 
church  may  be  resumed.  The  regular  work  of  the 
church,  indeed!  Where  is  our  warrant  for  interpret- 
ing the  last  command  of  our  Lord  after  this  fashion — 
putting  the  *'  making  "  of  disciples  into  a  corner  and 
giving  the  "teaching"  of  disciples  pretty  much  the 
whole  field  ? 

And  when  evangelistic  preaching  has  not  been  given 
a  set  season  and  a  series  of  meetings,  but  has  appeared 
in  the  regular  and  ordinary  ministry,  how  has  it  been 
treated  ?  Some  ministers  have  relegated  it  wholly  to 
the  evening  service.  Some  have  given  it  scant  room 
even  there.  So  that  it  has  come  to  pass  in  many  a 
church  that  sinners — highly  respectable  sinners  often, 
but  nevertheless  sinners  before  God — have  grown 
gray  in  regular  morning  attendance  upon  the  sanctu- 
ary, who,  because  they  were  never  out  at  an  evening 
service,  have  never  heard  a  sermon  that  was  meant  to 
bring  them  to  Christ !  Think  of  it !  All  their  lives, 
once  a  Sabbath,  in  the  house  of  God,  before  the  man 
of  God,  hearing  the  Word  of  God,  and  never  once  told 
what  they  must  do  to  be  saved  !  ]^ever  once  appealed 
to  with  a  personal  gospel  invitation,  because,  forsooth, 
evangelistic  preaching  has  been  assigned  to  another 
part  of  the  day ! 

But  the  spirit  and  the  method  of  this  appeal  are  no 


Why  Not  a  Soul  Winner  471 

less  important  than  the  fact  and  the  time  of  it.  When 
direct  appeal  has  been  made  to  those  who  are  not 
Christians,  how  has  it  been  made  ?  For  example  :  A 
sermon  is  preached  on  some  general  subject,  with 
elaborate  exposition,  argument,  and  illustration,  witli 
some  general  object  like  instruction  chiefly  in  view, 
and  at  the  close  the  preacber  says,  "  A  word  now  to 
the  impenitent."  Candidly,  is  that  the  way  to  do  this 
business  of  rescue?  No,  no,  brethren.  We  cannot 
crowd  much  eagerness  into  an  inference! 

Think  of  writing  on  the  title  page  of  such  a  sermon 
a  characterizing  word  like  this,  "  Filled  with  a  mighty 
persuasiveness  "  !  Or  this,  "  Intent  on  saving  a  soul  "  ! 
Or  this,  "  Throbbing  with  eager  desire  for  rescue  "  ! 
Oh,  no !  Such  a  label,  all  shifts  aside,  would  be  a  libel. 
Such  a  label,  all  shifts  aside,  would  be  a  lie. 

By  what  should  a  sermon  that  is  in  pursuit  of  a  soul 
and  bent  upon  rescue  be  distinctly  marked  ?  It  must 
have  some  characterizing  features  by  which  it  may  be 
known. 

1.  Such  a  sermon  is  come,  like  the  Master,  not 
to  call  the  righteous,  but  a_  sinner  to  repentance. 
Like  the  Master,  therefore,  it  will  face  the  fact  of  sin, 
and  deal  with  it  without  the  slightest  gloss  or  the  faint- 
est apology.  It  will  not  tone  down  sin's  appalling 
features  by  euphemistic  words  or  phrases.  It  will 
have  little  or  nothing  to  say  of  "  heredity,"  or  "  envi- 
ronment "  or  "  the  stream  of  tendency  "  or  "  the  victim 
of  circumstances."  The  soul  that  it  is  after  is  a  sin- 
ful soul.  Its  sin  is  the  only  reason  for  seeking  it.  Its 
sin  is  the  only  thing  from  which  it  needs  to  be  saved. 
Godly  sorrow  for  this  sin  is  a  vital  condition  of  salva- 
tion.    And  sorrow  for  sin  is  no  more  possible  with- 


472  >•  The  Sermon 

out  conviction  of  sin,  than  a  shadow  is  possible  with- 
out the  sun.  The  sermon  that  is  after  a  soul  will, 
therefore,  seek  first  of  all  to  give  that  soul  a  due  sense 
of  sin.  Tenderly  and  tearfully,  but  always  faithfully, 
this  will  be  done ;  sometimes  with  the  pathos  and 
tragedy  and  appealing  love  of  Calvary  ;  and  sometimes 
with  the  awful  majesty  of  offended  law.  And  herein 
the  sermon  will  be  in  the  direct  line  of  the  leading  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  whose  initial  and  exclusive  work  it  is 
to  convince  of  sin.  Surely  to  be  making  an  open  way 
for  the  Spirit's  first  and  indispensable  work — to  so 
order  the  entire  sermonic  structure  that  both  in  thought  >a 
and  expression  it  will  be  the  fittest  channel  for  the 
Holy  Spirit's  convincing  power,  is  to  invite  the  mighti- 
est Agent  of  the  universe  to  cooperation  with  the  ser- 
/  mon  in  the  supreme  effort  to  win  a  soul.     Possibly, 

/    brethren  of  the  ministry — possibly  here  is  the  secret 
of  many  a  sermonic  failure ;  that  we  did  not  tell  the 

\    soul  all  the  truth  about  its  sin. 

2.  The  sermon  that  is  after  a  soul,  is  come,  like  the 
Master,  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  is  lost.  Like 
the  Master!  This  lets  in  a  flood  of  light  upon  what 
should  be  the  tone  and  trend  and  dominating  purpose 
of  the  true  sermon.  The  Son  of  Man  never  forgot.  He 
never  allowed  His  hearers  to  forget.  He  threw  a  world 
of  meaning  into  the  word  "lost."  He  made  it  present. 
He  made  it  real.  He  made  it  measureless.  His  speech 
was  weighty  with  proverb  and  precept,  with  symbol 
and  parable,  telling  what  it  is  to  be  lost.  And  while  His 
speech  was  both  pathetic  and  tragic  with  the  sanction  of 
two  eternities.  He  did  not  put  the  loss  far  away  in  the 
vast  unknown  future.  He  said  it  was  now  and  here. 
Think  of  the  lost  sheep  and  the  lost  coin,  and  the  lost 


Why  Not  a  Soul  Winner  473 

boy ;  and  the  seeking  Shepherd,  and  the  seeking 
woman,  and  the  seeking  Father.  This  is  Christ's  own 
way  of  telling  us  that  the  sinner  He  is  come  to  seek 
and  save  is  lost  already.  So  the  sermon  that  is  after  a 
soul  will  tell  in  all  its  earnest  and  eager  search  that  it 
is  seeking  a  lost  soul ! 

3.  The  sermon  that  is  after  a  soul  has  no  to-mor- 
row in  it.  Its  accepted  time  is  'Lapw."  It  means 
instant  and  absolute  surrender ;  a  decision  at  once 
for  Christ ;  immediate  entrance  into  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Its  invitation  is  a  present,  urgent,  insistent 
invitation.  It  gives  no  hint  to  the  soul  it  seeks  that 
it  will  come  again.  It  allows  no  evasions,  encourages 
no  delays,  coddles  the  sinner  with  no  suggestions  that 
he  is  in  a  good  way  if  he  is  seriously  minded,  and 
thinking  about  this  matter  of  personal  religion,  and 
seeking  more  light,  in  the  hope  that  by  and  by  he 
will  see  his  way  to  a  full  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ. 
It  will  not  tell  him  to  keep  on  reading  his  Bible  for 
further  light  and  guidance  ;  nor  will  it  send  him  to 
the  church  through  whose  gates  he  may  at  last  find  a 
Saviour ;  nor  to  the  prayer-meeting  where  in  con- 
tinued prayer  and  meditation  he  may  ere  long  be 
brought  to  a  willing  mind.  No  !  But  with  imperious 
and  compelling,  yet  most  loving,  urgency,  it  will  tell 
him  there  is  no  "  by  and  by  "  in  which  a  soul  may 
come  to  Christ.  And,  pointing  to  the  cross,  it  will 
say,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  !  "  "  To-day,  to-day, 
if  you  will  hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your  heart." 

4.  The  sermon  that  is  after  a  soul,  is  not  a 
bow  "  drawn  at  a  venture."  Haphazard  shots,  even 
though  the  arrows  are  drawn  from  the  quiver  of 
God's  Word,  and  winged  with  prayer — are  not  the 


474  >   The  Sermon 

most  effective.  God  uses  them.  He  has  the  direction 
of  their  flight ;  and,  just  as  of  old,  He  may  send  them 
to  the  smiting  of  some  great  sinner  between  the  joints 
of  the  harness.  But  neither  here  is  God  always  at 
war  with  the  nature  of  things.  His  ordinary  method 
of  procedure  is  by  the  law  of  adaptation.  He  that 
winneth  souls  is  wise.  But  what  wisdom  can  there  be 
in  the  winning,  if  results  are  arbitrary,  or  the  fruit  of 
chance  ? 

Z'    The  sermon  that  is  after  a  soul  will,  therefore,  have 

singleness  of  aim,  knowledge   of  the   actual   human 

U^        nature  aimed  at,  all  possible  study  of  that  soul's  in- 

1  dividuality,  and  an  individuality  in  the  sermon  answer- 
^;  ing  to,  and  adapted  to,  the  individuality  of  the  man. 
There  will  be  a  clear  reason  for  taking  one  text  rather 
than  another,  and  for  treating  that  text  in  one  way 
rather  than  another.  And  the  reason  will  be  found  in 
the  soul  sought.  Men  take  in  truth  in  different  forms, 
and  by  different  sides  of  their  minds  ;  by  the  reason, 
by  the  imagination,  by  the  assthetic  nature,  through 
the  feelings,  in  plain  homely  garb,  in  poetic  form,  in 
syllogisms.  Truth  must  knock  at  the  side  of  the  mind 
by  which  truth  is  most  likely  to  enter.  Truth  is  car- 
ried to  some  by  tropes  and  metaphors ;  to  others  by 
the  hard  cudgels  of  logic  ;  to  others  it  is  floated  on 
the  watercourses  of  their  tears.  The  sermon  that  is 
after  a  soul,  means  knowledge  of  the  road,  the  way  to 
get  in,  and  "  this  one  thing  I  do."  It  has  all  the  pos- 
sibilities of  a  definite  determined  purpose,  while  it  has 
all  the  possibilities  of  "  a  bow  drawn  at  a  venture." 
The  true  gunner  firing  into  a  flock,  will  not  swing  his 
gun  and  fire  as  he  swings.  He  will  sight  a  single  bird 
in  the  flock,  and  fire. 


\ 


Why  Not  a  Soul  Winner  475 

5.  The  sermon  that  is  after  a  soul  is,  like  the\ 
Master,  "filled  with  compassion."  It  will  have  in 
it  what  was  in  Christ's  eyes  when  He  looked  on/ 
Peter,  with  the  curses  and  denials  scarce  off  that 
poor  disciple's  lips.  It  will  have  in  it  what  was  in 
Christ's  voice,  when  He  stood  weeping  over  Jerusalem, 
and  said,  "  How  oft  would  I  have  gathered  thy  chil- 
dren together,  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  brood  under  her. 
wings,  and  ye  would  not."  The  severest  rebuke  will 
get  its  chief  severity  from  this  deep  undertone  of 
divine  compassion.  And  whether  it  be  warning  or 
entreaty,  command  or  invitation,  the  terrors  of  the 
law  or  the  forgiveness  of  the  Gospel,  the  pathos  of  a 
suffering  and  beseeching  and  pursuing  love  will  bathe 
it  all,  and  make  it  clear  that  if  the  sermon  does  not 
bring  the  prodigal  home,  it  will  be  because  he  preferred 
to  trample  on  his  Father's  heart  and  murder  mercy. 

Is  this  kind  of  a  sermon  a  common  thing  in  the 
pulpit  of  to-day  ? — a  sermon  that  is  after  a  soul ;  that 
dares  to  deal  in  affectionate  fidelity  with  the  sin  of 
that  soul ;  that  makes  it  manifest  that  the  soul  it 
seeks  is  lost,  and  that  the  day  of  salvation  is  "  now  "  ; 
that  pursues  the  seeking  with  intense  and  eager  in- 
terest, never  letting  the  sinner  go,  throughout  the 
entire  discourse  from  start  to  finish  ;  and  that  ex- 
hibits a  mighty  passion  of  love  behind  it  all  ?  How 
many  such  sermons  have  been  preached  in  recent 
years  ?  What  if  each  preacher  of  the  Word  should 
call  the  roll  of  his  sermons,  say  five  years  back ;  the 
text,  the  topic,  and  the  dominant  purpose  of  each. 
How  many  of  them  would  bear  this  characterization  : 
"  Filled  with  a  mighty  persuasiveness  ;  a  sermon  that 
was  after  a  soul  "  ? 


47  6  V  The  Sermon 


-/ 


Brethren  of  the  ministry,  what  are  sermons  "  to  the 
^  times  "  compared  with  sermons  of  the  eternities  !  Ser- 
mons of  instruction  are  indeed  priceless.  To  feed  the 
flock  of  God  is  the  business  of  every  man  of  God.  But 
is  it  his  whole  business  ?  God  forbid  that  one  word 
should  ever  be  said  in  even  seeming  disparagement  of 
the  blessed  work  of  building  up  the  body  of  Christ. 
.  But  given  the  conditions  that  are  the  preacher's  pe- 
culiar privilege  from  forty  to  fifty  Sabbaths  each  year 
of  his  active  ministry,  viz.,  the  day  of  God,  the  house 
of  God,  the  Word  of  God,  the  man  of  God  and  the 
Spirit  of  God — given  these  five  supreme  conditions  each 
Lord's  day,  with  a  fairly  approachable  and  a  not  un- 
friendly audience,  yet  few,  or  no  conversions  as  the 
immediate  fruit  of  the  Sabbath  service — what  does  it 
mean  ?  Does  it  not  mean  that  so7nething  is  the  matter 
with  the  preaching  f  This  discussion  is  an  effort  to 
find  out  what  the  matter  is. 

Your  last  hundred  sermons,  O  God-commissioned 
herald  ;  or  your  last  five  hundred  ;  how  many  of  them 
could  you  mark  with  a  red  cross  as  a  sign  that 
each  sermon  thus  marked  brought  a  soul  to  Christ  ? 
And  how  many  of  these  red  crosses  could  be  un- 
derscored to  show  that  it  was  some  direct  word  to  the 
impenitent  that  did  the  rescue  work.  And  then  how 
many  of  these  underscored  crosses  could  be  starred,  to 
show  that  from  start  to  finish  the  sermons  thus  marked 
had  the  capture  in  view  f  If  not  one — not  one — does 
not  our  question,  Why  are  not  more  souls  won  to 
Christ  by  preaching?  find  its  partial  answer  in  the 
"^  hind  of  sermons  we  have  been  preaching  ?  And  should 
it  not  send  us  to  our  studies  and  to  our  knees  with  the 
cry  to  God  to  help  us  make  sermons  that  throughout 


Why  Not  a  Soul  Winner  477 

all  their  plan  and  purpose  should  pal[)itato  with  eager 
desire  to  hnd  and  win  a  soul.  Who  can  doubt  that 
God  would  put  His  seal  on  such  a  ministry  ?  And 
what  an  answer  it  would  be  to  the  stinging  taunt  of  a 
recent  pulpiteer  that  "  the  sermon  is  a  back  number"  ! 

Listen  to  our  Lord  : 

*'  All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  Me  in  heaven 
and  on  earth." 

That's  your  authority  ;  and  it  is  heaven's  own. 

"Go  ye  therefore  and  mahe  disciples.'*'' 

That's  your  husiness — and  it  is  the  Kinc/s  business. 

^''  Preach  the  Gospel.''^ 

That's  the  one  instrument  of  rescue. 

0^  man  of  God^  throw  out  the  life-line  ! 


Ind 


ex 


Acquisition  of  a  good  delivery, 
414 

Activities,  Christian,  their  help  in 
spreading  the  Gospel,  17 

Adaptation,  the  law  of,  159;  the 
saying  the  right  thing  at  the 
right  time,  in  the  right  way, 
159;  an  admitted  prime  neces- 
sity, 160;  that  the  sermon  should 
answer  some  end,  161  ;  should 
have  respect  to  men  as  they  are, 
163;  also  to  differing  minds  and 
temperaments,  164-166;  sorrow 
calling  for  wise  and  tender  words, 
169;  the  magic  wand,  182 

Aim,  supreme  (of  ideal  ministry), 
29 ;  in  preacher's  weekly  sermon, 
96;  in  sermon  preparation,  100, 

317.  350 
Alexander,   Dr.,  his   query  how  a 

youth  should  be  taught  to  paint 
and  painter's  answer,  219;  his 
"  Thoughts  on  Preaching,"  296, 
327 ;  his  advice  to  cut  off  super- 
fluous studies,  300 

Alienation,  estrangement,  and  im- 
penitency  in  the  pew,  170 

Ambassadors  for  Christ,  character- 
istic marks  of  their  stewardship, 
14;  distinguishing  intellectual 
gifts  in,  14;  the  preacher  a  her- 
ald, steward,  minister,  108;  must 
hold  commission  consciously  from 
his  divine  sovereign,  109 

Anglo-Saxon  words,  use  of  in  effec- 
tive pulpit  speech,  429 

Answering  questions,  method  of, 
187 

Apostrophe,  as  an  aid  to  style,  401 

Applied  theology,  the  crucial  ques- 
tion in,  465 


Approving  judgment  of  the  Church 
certifying  to  the  call  to  the  min- 
istry, 115 

Art,  the  exclusive  business  of,  14; 
the  idolatry  and  contempt  of,  306 

,  divine,  of  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel :  the  four  »»  Constants,"  307 

Assimilation  and  concentration  de- 
sirable gifts  in  the  student  in  the 
ministry,  127 

Attention,  Charles  Dickens  on  the 
quality  of,  125,  126 

Attentiveness,  a  quality  in  the  ideal 
student  for  the  ministry,  125; 
Charles  Dickens'  attestation  to 
the  quality,  125 

Augustine  and  Chrysostom,  strong 
contrasts  between,  14 

Authority,  speaking  with,  438 


Beauty  in  style,  401-403 

Beecher,  H.  \V.,  his  paraphrase  of 
Paul's  noble  avowal,  40;  his 
"  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  328 

Benevolent  schemes  and  Christian 
giving,  369 

Bible,  the,  familiarity  with  urged, 
299 ;  spirit  in  which  it  should  be 
studied,  299,  300;  methods  in 
studying  it,  301  ;  reading  the  en- 
tire books  of  at  one  sitting  rec- 
ommended, 301 

Biblical  proportions,  methods  for 
securing  varied,  373 

Boards  of  the  Church,  topics  of 
Christian  benevolence  as  related 
to  the,  368 

Bookcase  essential  for  the  ideal 
study,  155;  Albert  Barnes' study, 
156 

Books  in  an  ideal  study,  the,  141- 


479 


48o 


Index 


143 ;  buying  them,  146,  147 ; 
those  designed  for  spiritual  nur- 
ture and  life  of  the  soul,  152; 
the  literature  of  worshipping 
hearts,  154;  books  to  be  read  in 
various  branches,  302,  303 

Borrowing  in  sermon-writing,  326 

Brooks,  Phillips,  and  Moody,  D.  L., 
strong  contrasts  between,  14 

Browning,  Mrs.,  quoted,  357 

Burnet,  Bishop,  quoted  on  the  call 
to  the  ministry,  ill 

Burroughs,  John,  his  "  Thou  Shalt 
Not  Preach  "  quoted,  15 

Burton's  "  Yale  Lectures  "  quoted 
on  textual  fidelity,  51 

Business,  preeminent,  of  the  ideal 
ministry,  55 


«  Call"  to  the  ministry,  the,  103  ; 
how  it  is  certified  to  the  indi- 
vidual, 113;  Burton's  "  Yale  Lec- 
tures "  on  resounding  and  unre- 
sounding  calls,  117 

Calvin  and  Melanchthon,  strong 
contrasts  between,  14 

"  Cardinals  "  of  the  sermon,  the 
ideal,  333 

Central  theme  of  the  ideal  min- 
istry, 67 

Cheerfulness  should  mark  the 
preacher,  438 

Cheever's  "  Powers  of  the  World 
to  Come "  recommended  to  be 
read,  293 

China  stagnant,  lethargic,  and  un- 
progressive,  124 

Christ  crucified,  central  theme  of 
the  ideal  ministry,  67 

Jesus,  perfect  manhood  in,  29 

,  cross   of,   its    symbol   substi- 
tuted for  the  reality,  75 
-,  Church  of,  not  to  be  a  club- 


house, or  vast  soup  kitchen,  22 
— ,  perfect  man,  and  God  as  well 
as  man,  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  58,  59;  how  He  must  be 
preached  as  supreme  gift  of  di- 
vine love  for  a  lost  world,  59  ; 
must  be  set  forth  as  the  power 


unto  salvation,  59,  60 ;  a  Saviour 
through  atoning,  expiatory  sacri- 
fice, 61  ;  the  sacrifice  of,  62 ;  His 
justifying  righteousness,  62;  His 
death  a  redemptive  power,  68; 
His  coming  a  pi'oof  of  the  limit- 
less sweep  of  the  two  eternities, 
84  ;  on  the  first  commandment, 
190;  on  prayer,  255;  His  ex- 
hibiting, illustrating  truth,  and 
making  it  plain,  255 

Christ,  person  of,  inseparably  con- 
nected with  the  Gospel,  58 

,    preaching,    hazy    indefinite- 

ness  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
phrase,  57 

Christianity,  men  wearing  its  name 
without  possessing  its  essential 
spirit,  56 ;  great  themes  of,  should 
engage  minister's  thought  and 
study,  372 

Christian  Science,  preaching  more 
often  the  woi'd  of  a  woman  than 
that  of  the  Master,  21 

Church,  the,  argument  from  the 
testimony  of,  1 10 

Cicero,  on   the  voice   in   delivery, 

423 
Climax,  vital    characteristic    in  an 
ideal  sermon,  454;  what  makes 

it,  455 
Commandment,  first,  Christ  on  the, 

190 

Commonplace  book,  the,  in  the 
ideal  study,  145 

"  Constants,"  the  ideal,  in  sermon- 
making,  289 

Conversational  tone  in  the  pulpit,  a, 

425 
Cooperating    agent    of    the    ideal 

ministry,  the,  91 

Cross  of  Christ,  its  symbol  substi- 
tuted for  the  reality,  75 

Crucial  question  in  applied  the- 
ology, the,  465 

Cultivation,  constant,  of  the  homi- 
letic  bias,  suggested;  of  a  more 
vivid  and  abiding  sense  of  the 
divine  realities  of  the  gospel 
message ;  of  familiarity  with  the 
sources    of   materials  j    and    the 


Index 


481 


constant  presence  of  a  lofty 
standard  of  sermonizing,  289- 
296 


Defenders  of  the  Faith,  need  of, 
of  a  sermon,  the  ideal, 


255  . 
Definition 


275-283 

Delivery,  animation  and  earnestness 
in,  209 ;  of  a  sermon,  the  ideal, 
411 ;  importance  of,  ib.  ;  neglect 
of,  413;  acquisition  of  a  good, 
414;  sources  of  power  in,  ef- 
fective, 415  ;  intermediate  sources 
of  power  in,  427 ;  mental  and 
spiritual  sources  of  power  in,  431 ; 
ideas  the  basis  of  an  effective,  432 

Details,  minute,  bewilder  in  a  ser- 
mon, 453        . 

Devotional  uplift  and  spiritual  vi- 
sion, the  crown  and  glory  of  the 
ideal  student's  work,  151 

Dickens,  Charles,  on  the  quality  of 
attention,   125,  126 

Differing  minds  and  temperaments 
call  for  adaptation  in  the  preacher, 
164;  should  have  respect  also  to 
differing  conditions,  167 

Digressions  a  hindrance  to  thought- 
movement  in  sermon-making,  345 

Diligence,  the  habit  of  and  of  glad 
assiduity,  130;  better  than  genius, 

Disciples,  their  mission  to  preach 
salvation,  16 

Discussion  (tliat  part  of  a  discourse 
which  unfolds  the  theme),  chief 
sources  of  power  in,  229 ;  differ- 
ent kinds  of,  243-246;  in  sermon 
plans,  259-271;  observational, 
249,  252,  262;  examples  of  the 
latter,  250  ;  propositional  and  ex- 
planatory, 25 1,  263,  264,  266,  270 

Divine  call,  the,  effectual,  immedi- 
ate, and  personal,  107  ;  element 
certifying  to  it,  the  desire  to 
preach  the  Gospel,   114 

Doctrinal  error,  to  be  met  and  dealt 
with  by  the  preacher,  168 

topics  for  the  pulpit,  361-363 


Doctrine,  familiarity  with  the  Scrip- 
tural system  of,  urged,  300 

Doctrines,  preaching  old  in  new 
times,  177 

Dwight,  Prof.,  on  the  value  of  at- 
tention, 126 

E 

Earnestness  in  effective  delivery, 

437 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  and  Gypsy 
Smith,  strong  contrasts  between. 
14 

Emotional  outplay  in  pulpit  deliv- 
ery, 433 

Emotion,  habit  of  feigning,  434 

Emphasis  in  delivery,  how  defined 
and  determined,  427,  428 

Energy  of  style,  396-400 

Epistles,  the,  recommended  to  be 
read  entire  and  at  one  sitting,  301 

Eternal  life,  Christ  loved  most  to 
dwell  on,  86 

sanctions  of  the  ideal  min- 
istry, %i 

Ethics,  gospel  system  of,  an  ideal 
rule  of  life,  60 

Evangelistic  preaching,  470 

Everlasting  life  and  death,  the 
eternal  sanctions  of  the  ideal 
ministry,  83 

Explanatory  discussion,  a  part  of 
the  preacher's  discourse  which 
unfolds  the  theme,  243-247  ;  em- 
braces narration,  description,  ex- 
emplification (the  setting  forth  a 
theme  by  examples)  ;  its  chief 
crown  and  glory  in  expository 
preaching,  244 ;  exhibitive  and 
not  demonstrative,  245 ;  domi- 
nated by  a  purpose,  246;  includes 
duties,  253  ;  priority  and  suprem- 
acy to,  reason  for,  254  ;  tlie  way 
of  the  Master,  254;  discussion 
explanatory,  observational,  and 
propositional,  in  illustrative  ser- 
mon plans,  259-271 

Expository  preaching,  discussion 
the  chief  crown  and  glory  of,  244 

Extemporaneous  preaching,  203, 
304  \  fficility  in,  207  ;  saves  time 


482 


Index 


for  study,  207  ;  reasons  favour- 
ing, 208 ;  tends  to  more  direct 
address,  209  ;  secures  the  atten- 
tion and  sympathy  of  audience, 
210;  gives  freedom  to  follow  the 
suggestions  and  leadings  of  God's 
Spirit,  210;  essentials  to  success 
in,  211-215;  helps  to  facility  in, 
216;  cultivate  at  the  threshold  of 
the  ministry,  219  ;  need  to  form 
constant  habit  of,  238 

Extemporaneous  speech,  desirable 
and  even  imperative,  206  ;  gives 
greater  animation  and  earnest- 
ness in  delivery,  209 

Extemporary  effort  apt  to  be  super- 
ficial, 221 


Facility,  ministerial  slips  on  the 
smooth  plane  of,  222 ;  advantage 
of  facility  of  remembrance,  342 

Feeling,  manifestation  of  in  pulpit, 
433;  assuming  it,  434;  express- 
ing it  in  tears  (weeping  for  effect), 
436;  how  to  be  cultivated,  436 

Fervency    and    emotional   outplay, 

433 
Finney,  C.  G.,  and  Whitefield,  H,, 

strong  contrasts  between,  14 
Forgiveness,  duty  of  Christian,  253 
Function,  permanent,  of  the  ideal 

ministry,  13 


Gesture  as  an  aid  to  expression, 
417-419;  the  philosophy  of,  420; 
the  five  great  laws  of,  421 

God's  providential  and  spiritual 
agency,  difference  between,  109 

Gospel  commission,  exact  meaning 
and  scope  of  the  great,  31 

message,  no  narrow  limitation 

of  the,  77  ;  the  divine  realities  of 
the,  an  abiding  sense  of,  290 ; 
reasons  for  possessing  this  vivid, 
abiding  sense,  291  ;  how  the  lat- 
ter is  to  be  secured,  291-293 

ministry,  ideas  of  that  give  it 

its  peculiar   glory  and   sanctity, 


14 ;  means  perfect  manhood  in 
Christ,  30 

Gospel  proclamation,  ordinance  of 
and  warrant  for,  17 

propagandism,  danger  in  some 

of  its  devices,  21 

Greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
Christ's  answer  to  the  query  who 
shall  be,  194 

Growing  in  grace,  259 ;  observa- 
tional, propositional,  and  explan- 
atory discussion,  259-262 

H 

Hall,  Dr.  John,  one  of  the  freest 
memoriter  preachers,  233 

Harris's  *'  Philosophical  Basis  of 
Theism  "  quoted,  358 

Hearers  ofa  sermon,  perfect  method 
of  approach  to,  456 

Hearts,  Christ  as  the  diviner  of, 
197 

Helps  in  determining  methods  of 
preaching,  236 

Holy  Scripture,  its  vast  variety,  47, 
48 ;  folly  of  tampering  with  it, 
48 ;  unduly  spiritualizing,  49 ; 
tortured  and  sported  with,  50 

Holy  Spirit,  the  cooperating  agent 
in  the  ideal  ministry,  91 ;  ideal 
student  should  be  ever  led  by 
the,  133;  assistance  of  in  the  de- 
livery of  pulpit  discourse,  210, 
211 

Homiletic  art,  a  preaching  that  up- 
lifts and  glorifies,  lOO 

bias,  constant  cultivation  of  a, 

recommended,  294;  importance 
of  this,  296 

Human  nature,  a  knowledge  of 
requisite  in  the  preacher,  172 


Ideal  "  Cardinals  "  of  the  sermon, 

333 
'•  Constants  "  in  sermon-mak- 
ing, 289 

definition  of  a  sermon,    279- 


283 


delivery  of  the  sermon,  411 


Index 


483 


Ideal  "Immediates"  in  sermon- 
making,  31 1 

ministry,  the,  its    permanent 

function:  preaching,  13,  15 

,  its  central  theme  :  Christ 

crucified,  67 

,  its    cooperating   agent: 

the  Holy  Spirit,  91 

,    its    eternal    sanctions : 

everlasting  life  and  death,  83 

,  its  preeminent  business : 

preaching  Christ,  55 

,    its    ruling  spirit:  love, 


37 

,  its    subject-matter;  the 

Word  of  God,  45 

-,  its    supreme    aim:   per- 


fect manhood  in  Christ  Jesus,  29 
—  qualities  of  style  in  the  ser- 
mon, 377 

sermon,  the,  445 

topics  for  preaching,  349 


Ideals,  related,  103 

Ignorance,  a  condition  to  be  met 
and  dealt  with  by  the  preacher, 
166 

Illustrative  sermon  plans,  259-272 

"  Immediates  "  ideal,  in  sermon- 
making,  313 

Impenitency,  alienation,  and  es- 
trangement in  the  pew,  170 

Impenitent,  direct  word  to  in  ser- 
mons, 476 

Inactivity,  a  condition  to  be  met 
and  dealt  with  by  the  preacher, 
169 

Incarnation,  the,  hallows  labour,  70 

,  Resurrection,  Ascension,  and 

Intercession  of  Christ  the  four 
great  facts  in  the  Gospel  record, 
69 

Individuality  in  the  preacher,  Glad- 
stone's testimony  to,  414 

Indolence,  objectionable  quality  in 
the  student  in  the  ministry,  131 

Inspiration  more  than  any  theory 
of  it,  183 

Instruction,  conviction,  excitation, 
and  persuasion — objects  the 
preacher  should  have  in  view, 
315.316 


Instruction  in  order  to  conviction 
and  persuasion,  388 

Intellectual  character,  quality  of 
possessed  by  the  student  in  the 
ministry,  122 

Intensity  rather  than  versatility,  and 
a  big  receiving  capacity,  desirable 
qualities  in  the  ministerial  stu- 
dent, 123 

Intercession  of  Christ,  the,  74 

Interrogatives,  the  searching,  95 


Japan's  national  wall  of  exclusion 
and  prejudice  breaking  down, 
124 

Jones,  E.  Griffith,  his  "The  Ascent 
Through  Christ"  referred  to,  303 

K 

Kinds  of  discussion,  243 
Knox,    John,    and    Bunyan,   John, 
strong  contrasts  between,  14 


Law  of  adaptation,  the,  159 

Lecture  room  talk-book,  the,  in  the 
minister's  study,  146 

Literature  of  worshipping  hearts, 
the,  154 

Living  men,  mix  with  and  know, 
injunction  to,  303 

Location  of  the  ministerial  study, 
139;  its  size,  etc.,  141 

Love,  the  gift  of  gifts,  which  gave 
birth  to  the  plan  of  redemption, 
37 ;  St.  Paul  on,  38 ;  how  the 
spirit  of  may  be  deepened  and 
developed,  41 ;  the  ruling  spirit 
of  in  the  preparation  of  the  ser- 
mon, 97  ;   of  the  ideal  ministry, 

37 
Luther  quoted  on  God's  call,  ill; 
his  vigour  and  vitality  explained, 
440 

M 

Macau  lay.  Lord,  his  memoriter 
exploits,  231 


484 


Index 


Manhood,  perfect,  in  Christ  Jesus, 

Mannerism,  avoid  all  in  the  pulpit, 
421 

Manuscript,  preaching  from  a,  223- 
226;  reasons  in  favour  of,  225, 
228;     objections     to,    228-230 

,     sermon,     familiarity     with, 

429,  430 
Many-sided,  the  gift  of  being  so  a 
merit  in  the  student  in  the  min- 
istry, 128;  a  need  in  the  preacher, 

173 

Material  for  the  sermon,  324,  325 

Matthias,  the  call  and  appointment 
of,  105 

Melville's  great  sermon  on  salva- 
tion, 314 

Memoriter  method  of  preaching, 
the,  230;  advantages  of,  231; 
disadvantages  of,  232 

Men  conspicuous  as  winners  and 
builders  up  of  souls,  76 

Mental  gifts,  ample  room  for  in  the 
ministry,  121 

Method  and  systematic  toil  charac- 
teristics in  student,  132 

of  answering    questions,   the, 

187 

Methods  of  preaching,  203 ;  choice 
of,  234,  235  ;  helps  in  determin- 
ing, 236 

Minister's  study,  the,  137  ;  its  lo- 
cality and  the  books  in,  139,  141 

Ministry,  a  tame  one  that  con- 
ceives it  a  means  of  livelihood 
only,  13;  of  reconciliation,  or  the 
work  of  rescue,  32  ;  of  sanctifica- 
tion,  or  the  work  of  structure, 
32  ;  power  of,  for  its  work,  77  ; 
peerless  in  its  claims  and  limit- 
less in  its  possibilities,  100  ;  the 
"  call "  to  the,  103 ;  how  the 
latter  is  certified  to  the  individ- 
ual, 113;  the  desire  for  the, 
114,  115;  bearing  of  "the  call" 
on  the  ministerial  character  and 
efificiency,  1 16 

Monasteries,  best  life  of  the  Church 
hidden  in,  1 10 

Moody,  D.    L.,  his    answer  to  the 


question  how  to  heat  a  cold 
church,  230 
Movement  in  sermon-making,  the 
quality  that  bears  the  thought 
onward ;  its  nature,  demands, 
and  importance,  342-344;  pro- 
lixity and  digressions  hindrances 
to,  344 

N 

Neighbour,  who  is  my,  and  Christ's 
answer,  190,  191 

Newspaper,  the  Sunday,  influence 
against  pulpit  teaching,  19 

New  Testament,  a  message  to  be 
delivered,  22 

New  times,  preaching  old  doc- 
trines in,  177  ;  the  phrase,  query 
a  coinage  of  the  hour,  178 

o 

Object,  distinct  conception  of  the, 
preacher  should  have  in  view  in 
sermon-making,  317,  318 

Objections  to  extemporaneous 
preaching,  221 

Observational  discussion  of  the  ser- 
mon text,  249 ;  examples  of,  250 

Old  doctrines,  preaching,  in  new 
times,  177;  how  shall  they  be 
preached,  179  ;  in  their  totality, 
179;  in  their  Scriptural  fullness, 
179  ;  with  constant  regard  to  the 
law  of  adaptation,  181 

Orators,  the  world's  great,  and 
their  immortal  speech,  33 

Oratorical  style  in  effective  de- 
livery, 428 

Order,  the  necessity  of,  in  dis- 
course, 337,  338 ;  in  meeting 
objections  and  in  pressing  mo- 
tives, 339,  340;  advantages  of, 
340;  gives  sermon  power,  341 


Paul,  St.,  the  apostle  of  brains, 
scholarship,  and  high  culture,  38; 
on  love  as  an  essential,  38,  39; 
directly  called   of  God,  106;   a 


Index 


485 


mighty  reasoner,   255,  256 ;   his 

high  standard  of  preaching,  306 
Paul    and    Peter,    strong    contrasts 

between,  14 
Perfect    manhood   in   Christ  Jesus, 

29 
Permanent    function    of   the    ideal 

mmistry,  13 
Personal  interest,  quickened,  in  the 

preparation  for  the  pulpit,  327 
Personality,  human,  potent    charm 

and  power  of,  18 
Perspicuity,    quality    of,    385-388 ; 

perspicuous    authors  to  be  read, 

391 

Persuasion,  vital  function  of,  in 
aidmg  the  divine  life,  30 

Persuasiveness  in  sermon-writing 
and  delivery,  471 

Phelps,  Austin,  his  "  Sacred  Rhet- 
oric "  quoted,  50,  51  ;  his  defini- 
tion of  a  sermon,  279 

Physical  and  mental  qualifications 
in  the  preacher,  115 

Plan  in  sermon-making  and  prepa- 
ration for  the  pulpit,  320,  321 

Poems  and  orations  versus  sermon- 
making,  100 

Posture,  a  source  of  power  in  de- 
livery, 416 

Pounds,  the  parable  of  the,  86 

Power  in  the  pulpit  and  in  public 
speech,  439 

Practice,  persistent,  essential  to  suc- 
cess in  extemporaneous  preach- 
ing, 215 

Prayer,  Christ's  teachings  concern- 
ing, its  power,  tenderness,  per- 
sistence, and  reasonableness,  255 

Preacher,  the,  doubtful  or  critical 
attitude  of  mind  towards,  18  ;  no 
longer  regarded  as  speaking 
oracularly,  18;  his  reputation  for 
scholarship  merely,  23  ;  his  com- 
mission, 46  ;  his  aim  and  divine 
order,  47  ;  his  need  of  famili- 
arity with  Holy  Scripture,  52 

Preaching,  the  permanent  function 
of  the  gospel  ministry,  15  ;  the 
living  preaching  and  its  message, 
16;    conspicuous    and   absorbing 


business  of,  18;  as  a  means  of 
gospel  conquest,  20  ;  New  Testa- 
ment preaching  God's  chief  in- 
strument of  coiujuest,  21  ;  aban- 
donment of,  to  run  alter  other 
things,  23 ;  want  of  broadness  in, 
24 ;  true  preaching  the  truly  di- 
vine art,  29,  30;  preaching 
Christ,  clear  understanding 
needed  of  the  meaning  of  the 
phrase,  56 ;  the  preacher's  pre- 
eminent business,  55,  78,  80,  98; 
preaching  old  doctrines  in  new 
times,  177;  methods  of,  203; 
ideal  topics  for,  349-374  ;  from  a 
manuscript,  223-226;  memoriter 
method  of,  230 
Prearrangement  in  sermon-making, 

323 
Precision,    the    cultivation    of    and 

regard  for,  390 
Preeminent    business   of  the   ideal 

ministry,  55 
Premeditation  and  what  it  involves, 

212 
Preparation,    neglect   of   thorough, 

222 
Prepared  paragraphs  not  as  a  rule 

to  be  used  in  discourses,  220 
Press,  the,  aid   of  in  winging  the 

message  of  God  to  millions,  17 
Prolixity  a  hindrance  to  movement, 

344 

Propositional  discussion,  251,  252 

Psalms,  the,  a  treasure-store  of  de- 
votion, 152;  the  23d,  46th,  51st, 
and  91st,  value  of,  153;  the  23d, 
256 

<'  Pulpit  helps,"  warning  against 
their  use,  298 

preparation,  314,  315 


QUALITIKS  of  style  in  the  sermon, 
the  ideal,  303 

Question,  the  crucial,  in  applied 
theology,  321 

Questions,  method  of  answering, 
187;  a  well  equipped  preacher 
will  start  questions,  and  a  live 
parish  will    bristle  with  interro- 


486 


^    Index 


gation  points,  187;  replies  of 
Christ  to,  188;  Christ's  answer 
to,  in  parables,  188;  embodied  a 
principle  rather  than  a  rule,  190; 
Christ's  reply  to  questioners,  196 
Quickened  personal  interest  in  the 
preparation  for  the  pulpit,  327 

R 

Range  of  topics  for  the  pulpit,  351- 

355 
Raphael's  lofty  ideal,  23 
Reading   and    studying    books,   by 

the  ideal  student,  148,  149 
not  called  preaching,  quoted 

from   Potter's  "Sacred  Elo- 
quence," 224 
Receptivity,  a  quality  in  the  student 

in  the  ministry,  123 
Record    book,    the,   in    the    ideal 

study,  146 
Reformation,  the,  restores  the  true 

idea  of  a  call  to  the  ministry,  ill 
Reformers  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land  and   the   call   to   the  holy 

office,  III 
Related  ideals,  103 
Resurrection,     the,     a     signboard 

pointing   to  Christ  crucified,  71 
Richmond,   Leigh,   his   lament    on 

the  national  Church  in  England, 

III 
Robertson,  F.  W.,  on  reading  books, 

150;  on  observational  discussion, 

249 
Ruling   spirit    (love),   the,  in    the 

ideal  ministry,  37 
Ruts   to   be  avoided  in  preaching, 

174 


Salvation,  honest  and  earnest  in- 
quiry as  to  the  way  of,  171 ;  the 
preacher's  aim,  350 

Sanctions,  eternal,  of  the  ideal 
ininistry,  83  ;  the  Gospel's,  98 

Saved,  are  there  few  f<hat  be,  and 
Christ's  answer,  193,  194;  what 
shall  I  do  to  be,  and  Christ's 
answer,  197,  198 


Schleiermacher's  preaching  de- 
scribed by  Humboldt,  433 

Scholarship  in  the  ministry,  and 
other  and  higher  wants,  24 

Science,  history,  philosophy,  and 
psychology,  books  on,  to  be  read, 
302,  303 

Scrap-book,  the,  in  the  minister's 
study,  144 

Scripturalness  in  discourse-writing, 
404 

Scripture  to  be  made  the  interpreter 
of  Scripture,  300 

Self-observation  incompatible  with 
true  eloquence,  213 

Self-possession,  an  essential  to  suc- 
cess in  extemporaneous  preach- 
ing, 213,  214 

Sensibilities,  exercising  the,  436 

Sermon,  ideal  definition  and  char- 
acterization of  a,  275,  280-282  ; 
the  work  it  has  to  do,  305  ;  ideal 
"  Constants  "  of  the,  287  ;  ideal 
"Cardinals"  of  the,  333;  ideal 
"  Immediates"  of  the,  313;  ideal 
topics  of  the,  349  ;  ideal  qualities 
of  style  in  the,  379  ;  ideal  deliv- 
ery of  the,  411;  the  ideal  ser- 
mon, 445 ;  marked  by  illustra- 
tions, 451  ;  the  truth  of  God 
through  human  personality,  458  ; 
true  to  the  truth,  459;  true  to  the 
man,  459;  why  not  a  soul-winner  ? 
465;  no  to-morrow  in  the,  473; 
not  a  bow  drawn  at  a  venture, 
473  ;  singleness  of  aim  in,  474 

Sermons,  idolatry  in,  33  ;  as  tools, 
33 ;  and  sermonic  toil,  33  ;  to  be 
analyzed  and  studied,  297  ;  not 
the  number  of,  but  the  kind  they 
are,  307  ;  not  to  the  times,  but  to 
the  eternities,  476 

Sermonic  unity,  order,  and  move- 
ment, 455 

Sermonizing,  organizing  and  meth- 
odizing power  in,  294 ;  a  lofty 
standard  of,  304 

Sermon-making,  277 

Sermon  plans,  illustrative  of  differ- 
ent kinds  of  discussion,  259-271 

Sermon-writing,  with  the  audience 


Index 


487 


mentally    before    the    preacher, 
328;  should    not  be    patchwork, 

329 

Seward,  W.  H.,  an  effective  public 
speaker,  231 

Shedd,  Dr.  G.  W.  T.,  quoted,  41, 
203,  204,  250,  278,  279 ;  his 
"  Sermons  to  the  Natural  Man  " 
recommended  to  be  read,  293 

Simplicity,  dignified,  in  sacred  dis- 
course, 404,  405 

Sin,  conviction  of,  the  preacher's 
work  by  his  sermon,  93 

Singleness  of  theme  and  object  in 
sermonic  discourse,  335 

Skeletonizing,  habituate  the  mind 
to,  urged,  297 

Skeletons,  books  of  (pulpit  helps), 
their  use  negatived,  298 

Smith,  Gypsy,  14,  294 

Smith,  Sydney,  on  reading  dis- 
courses from  the  pulpit,  224 

Sociological  movements  that  have 
no  thought  of  spiritual  regenera- 
tion, 21 

Sorrow,  a  special  condition  calling 
for  wise  and  tender  adaptation 
by  the  preacher,  169 

Souls,  why  are  not  more  brought 
to  Christ  by  preaching?  465 

Specialist,  a,  not  the  best  material 
for  the  Christian  ministry,  129 

Speech  of  the  pulpit  characterized, 
29;  public,  sacred,  and  secular 
speech,  difference  between,  29; 
facility  of,  attractive  to  men,  208 ; 
fluency  of  mistaken  for  extempo- 
raneous ability,  218 

Spirit,  ruling,  in  the  ideal  ministry, 
37 ;  cooperation  of  in  selection  of 
the  preacher's  theme  and  the 
choice  of  a  text,  94;  spirit  of 
God,  the  ideal  sermon  born  of 
the,  458 

Spirit's  cooperation  through  faith, 
the,  91 ;  assured  by  the  great 
and  precious  promises,  92 ;  in 
the  construction  and  application 
of  the  sermon,  92;  along  the  lines 
vital  to  spiritual  power  and  vic- 
tory, 93 


Spirituality  the  vital  trait  of  minis- 
terial  character,  121 

Spurgeon,  on  an  empty  mind  and 
its  gift  of  saying  nothing,  24 

and  Beecher,  strong  contrasts 

between,  14 

Storrs,  Rev.  Dr.  R.  S.,  on  '•  The 
Future  of  the  Protestant  Pulpit 
in  American  Society  "  quoted,  18 

Student  in  the  ministry,  the,  121  ; 
quality  of  intellectual  character 
possessed  by  the,  122  ;  should 
be  receptive,  attentive,  concen- 
trative,  assimilative,  and  many- 
sided,  133 

Study,  the  minister's,  139 

Style,  ideal  qualities  of,  in  the  ser- 
mon, 379  ;  value  of  a  good,  380 ; 
important  for  the  pulpit,  381  ; 
objections  to,  381,  382;  Paul  paid 
no  attention  to,  383 ;  different 
properties  of,  384,  393,  394 

Subject-matter  of  the  ideal  ministry, 
45. 238 

Success,  essentials  to,  in  extempora- 
neous preaching,  211 

Sugden,  Sir  Edward,  his  testimony 
as  to  reading,  150 

Supreme  aim  of  the  ideal  minis- 
try, 29 

Symbol  and  sacrament,  preaching 
for  God,  17 

Syrophenician  woman,  influence  of 
the  story  of  the,  246 


Talents,  the  parable  of  the,  86 

Temperament  of  the  sermon-writer, 
328 

Testimony  of  the  Church,  argument 
from  the,  1 10 

Text  of  Scripture,  what  fidelity  to  it 
will  secure,  52 

Text-book,  the,  in  the  minister's 
study,  145  ;  a  classified,  297 

Texts,  and  their  explanatory,  prepo- 
sitional, and  observational  dis- 
cussion, 259-272 

Theme,  preacher's,  chosen  and  ser- 
mon written  to  suit  some  present 


488 


Index 


condition,  162;  sermon  theme, 
distinct  conception  of  what  is  to 
be  treated,  313;  should  have  ex- 
act expression  in  words,  314 

Themes  of  Christianity,  great, 
should  engage  minister's  thought 
and  study,  372 

Thiers,  President,  on  resorting  to 
ease  and  fluency  of  style,  219 

Thoroughness  a  quality  in  the  ideal 
student,  131 

Thorwaldsen  on  his  completed 
work,  305 

and    Michael    Angelo,    their 

chisellings  versus  the  sculpturing 
of  souls,  100 

Timothy  apostolically  enjoined  to 
preach  the  Word,  20,  21 

Tones  of  the  voice  in  the  pulpit,  425 

Topics,  ideal,  for  the  pulpit,  349 ; 
range  of,  352-355;  Scriptural 
limit  to,  352-355  ;  philosophical, 
356,  357  ;  variety  of,  359  ;  doc- 
trinal, 361 ;  ethical,  363  ;  narra- 
tive, biographical,  and  historical, 
364;  topics  of  Christian  Social- 
ism, 365  ;  political,  367  ;  of 
Christian  benevolence,  368 ;  a 
classified  list  of  to    be  preached 

on, 373 

True  preaching  the  truly  divine 
art,  29 

Trust  in  Christ,  the  entrance-gate 
to  eternal  life,  62 

Truth,  the  proportion  and  emphasis 
of,  constantly  changing,  182  ;  ex- 
hibit and  live  the  truth,  255  ; 
Christ's  exhibiting  and  illustra- 
ting truth,  and  making  it  plain, 

255 
Tyndall's  thrilling  interest  in  pre- 
senting a  scientific  topic,  362 

u 

Unity,  the  very  life  of  a  preacher's 
discourse,  319;  in  sacred  dis- 
course, 333-337 


Uplifted  soul,  injunction  to  pray  to 

get  an,  220 
Utterance,  perfect   freedom  of   the 

glory     of    the     best    extempore 

preaching,  237 


Variety  in  preaching,  460 
Verbal  form,  perfect,  in  the  sermon, 

453 

Vinet,  and  the  call  to  the  ministry, 
112;  on  the  preacher,  306 

Voice  in  delivery,  the,  423 ;  char- 
acter and  powers  of,  424;  its 
flexibility,  424  ;  preservation  of 
the,  426;  a  good  voice,  431 

w 

Wandering  and  worldly-minded- 
ness  in  the  pew,  17 1 

Wesleyan  Reformation  and  the  call 
to  the  ministry,  ill 

Westminster  Confession  of  Faith 
quoted,  31 

Whitefield,  his  intimate  fellowship 
with  eternal  realities,  294 

Word  of  God,  the,  subject-matter 
of  the  ideal  ministry,  45  ;  inex- 
haustible riches  of,  50;  the 
preacher's  subject-matter,  97  ;  a 
knowledge  of  in  the  preacher, 
172 

Words,  diligence  in  the  study  of 
marks  careful  speech  and  writing, 
218 

Writing  chastens  and  purifies  style, 
225 ;  tends  to  give  clearness  and 
vividness  to  thought,  226 ;  also 
greater  compactness  with  greater 
variety  of  material,  227  ;  careful 
writing,  constant  habit  of  en- 
joined, 238 

Written  sermons,  liability  of  to 
create  mechanical  delivery,  229 


\\ 


> 


Date  Due 


